mellow
Syllables: mel·lowUK/ˈmɛləʊ//ˈmɛloʊ/
mellow adjective: soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
Adjective
mellow (comparative mellower or more mellow, superlative mellowest or most mellow)
- Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
- a mellow apple
- How can thoſe men call home the loſt ſheepe that are gone aſtray, comming into the Miniſtery before their wits be ſtaid. This greene fruite, béeing gathered before it be ripe, is rotten before it be mellow, and infected with Sciſmes before they haue learned to bridle their affections, […]1589, T[homas] Nashe, The Anatomie of Absurditie: […], London: […] I[ohn] Charlewood for Thomas Hacket, […], →OCLC, signature Dii, verso
- Matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.
- The Claret ſmooth, deep as the lip vve preſs, / In ſparkling fancy, vvhile vve drain the bovvl; / The mellovv-taſted Burgundy; and quick, / As is the vvit it gives, the bright Champaign.1730, James Thomson, “Autumn. Inscribed to the Right Honourable Arthur Onslow, Esq; Speaker of the House of Commons.”, in The Seasons, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 159, lines 696–700
- [H]e was ready and willing to hear what I might have to say: his spirit was of vintage too mellow and generous to sour in one thunder-clap.1853 January, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “We Quarrel”, in Villette. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 53
- Soft and easily penetrated or worked; not hard or rigid; loamy.
- [A] wyse and counnynge gardener […] will first serche throughout his gardeyne where he can finde the most melowe and fertile erth: and therin wil he put the sede of the herbe to growe and be norisshed: […]1531, Thomas Elyot, “The Education or Fourme of Bringing Up of the Childe of a Gentilman, which is to Haue Authoritie in the Publike Weale”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […]...
- This liketh moorie plots, delights in ſedgie Bovvres, / The graſſy garlands loues, and oft attyr'd with flovvres / Of ranke and mellovv gleabe; a ſwarde as ſoft as vvooll, / VVith her complexion ſtrong, a belly plumpe and full.1612, Michael Drayton, “The Third Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great...
- Synonyms:
- yielding
- Mature; of crops: ready to be harvested; ripe.
- Nor autumn yet had bruſh'd from ev'ry ſpray, / With her chill hand, the mellow leaves away; […]1792, [William] Cowper, “The Needless Alarm. A Tale.”, in The Speaker: Or, Miscellaneous Pieces, Selected from the Best English Writers, and Disposed under Proper Heads, with a View to Facilitate the...
- Fruitful and warm.
- And mellow Autumn, charged with bounteous fruit, / Where is she imaged? in what favoured clime / Her lavish pomp, and ripe magnificence?c. 1806–1809 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book the Fifth. The Pastor.”, in The Excursion, being a Portion of The Recluse, a Poem, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]...
- Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, / Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; / Conspiring with him how to load and bless / With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; […]1819 September 19, John Keats, “To Autumn”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 1, page...
- Synonyms:
- mellowy
- Not coarse, brash, harsh, or rough; delicate, rich, soft, subdued.
- How ſvveet and mellovv, and yet hovv Majeſtick, is the Sound of it!1668, Franciscus Euistor the Palæopolite [pseudonym; Henry More], “The Third Dialogue”, in Divine Dialogues, Containing Sundry Disquisitions & Instructions Concerning the Attributes of God and His...
- The mellow Harp did not their Ears employ: / And mute was all the Warlike Symphony: / Diſcourſe, the Food of Souls, was their Delight, / And pleaſing Chat, prolong'd the Summers-night.1700, [John] Dryden, “The Twelfth Book of Ovid his Metamorphoses, Wholly Translated”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 427
- Synonyms:
- mellowy
- Well-matured from age or experience; not impetuous or impulsive; calm, dignified, gentle.
- The cauſe vvas mine, I might haue died for both: / My yeeres vvere mellow, his but young and greene, / My death vvere naturall, but his vvas forced.c. 1587 (date written), [Thomas Kyd], The Spanish Tragedie: […] (Fourth Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for T[homas] Pauier, […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act I
- Lets ſee: no Maiſter Greene-wit is not yet / So mellow in yeares as he; […]c. 1607–1610 (date written), Thomas Middleton; Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girle. Or Moll Cut-purse. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Archer, […], published 1611, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]
- Synonyms:
- grounded, sanguine, calm, steady, collected, composed, cool-headed, equable, equanimous, equanimitable
- Cheerful, genial, jovial, merry; also, easygoing, laid-back, calm, relaxed.
- In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow, / Thou'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow; / Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee, / There is no living with thee, nor without thee.1711 May 28 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “THURSDAY, May 18, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 68; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New...
- The Baronet was when I saw him as merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound; and the love he had once felt for one woman had spread itself over the whole sex; so that there was not a pretty face in the whole country round, but came in for a share.1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “A Hunting Dinner”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 1 (Strange Stories. […]), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- convivial, gay, berserk, blissed out, blithe, buoyant, chirpy, blithesome, bonnie, bright
- Drunk, intoxicated; especially slightly or pleasantly so, or to an extent that makes one cheerful and friendly.
- […] Tanee was accosted by certain good fellows, friends and boon companions, who condoled with him on his misfortunes—railed against the queen, and finally dragged him away to an illicit vender of spirits, in whose house the party got gloriously mellow.1847 March 30, Herman Melville, “Queen Pomaree”, in Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 309
- Now the master, mellow almost to the verge of geniality, put his chair aside, turned his back to his audience, and began to draw a map of America on the blackboard, to exercise the geography class upon.1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXI, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 174
- Pleasantly high or stoned, and relaxed after taking drugs; also, of drugs: slightly intoxicating and tending to produce such effects.
- These boys were heavy smokers, and like my high school classmates, were always "high", "cool" and "mellow." They were never violent and were helpful and respectful to the adults in our village.2004, Cecil Young, “Department of Health”, in One Canada: Creating the Greatest Country on Earth, Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 266
- Late that night, everyone was sprawled on the sofas and bean bags in the lounge room, mellow because they'd smoked a couple of joints of hash.2014, Julie McSorley, Marcus McSorley, “Part One: Early 1980s”, in Out of the Box: The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler, Berkeley, Calif.: Roaring Forties Press, →ISBN, page 30
- Synonyms:
- baked, blazed, blitzed, blown, chemically impaired, chopped, cut, drugged, drugged-out, fuckered up
- Pleasing in some way; excellent, fantastic, great.
Noun
mellow (plural mellows)
- The property of being mellow; mellowness.
- A comfortable or relaxed mood.
- Yet, conversely, some people searched for the mellow […] Hope for flower power had faded, though the journey into the mellow did not represent idealism; rather, it spelled escape— […]1997, Neil A. Hamilton, The ABC-CLIO Companion to the 1960s Counterculture in America, Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 258, column 1
- Nothing like a suicide to harsh a mellow. On their third date, Lizzie had actually said to him, "You're sort of harshing my mellow." It made him wonder if she might be stupid, and not just young.1999, Kurt Andersen, chapter 37, in Turn of the Century, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, part 3 (June, July, August, September, October), page 508
- Also main mellow: a close friend or lover.
- I've got attractions like I'm Elvis Costello / Adam Yauch grab the mic 'cause you know you're my mellow1994 May 31, Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch, “Do It”, in Ill Communication, performed by the Beastie Boys
Verb
mellow (third-person singular simple present mellows, present participle mellowing, simple past and past participle mellowed)
- To cause (fruit) to become soft or tender, specifically by ripening.
- Then Olives, ground in Mills, their fatneſs boaſt, / And Winter Fruits are mellow'd by the Froſt.1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 94
- As time improves the grape's authentic juice, / Mellows and makes the ſpeech more fit for uſe, / And claims a rev'rence in its ſhort'ning day, / That 'tis an honour and a joy to pay.1782, William Cowper, “Conversation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 244
- To cause (food or drink, for example, cheese or wine, or its flavour) to become matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.
- To soften (land or soil) and make it suitable for planting in.
- This City is built of white Sun-burnt brickes, is watered with a ſmall ſtreame, which runs in two parts through the Towne, and meloes moſt of the Gardens and Groues within her, whereby ſhee yeelds a thankfull tribute of ſundry fruits.1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “Tyroan”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC, page 115
- Having therefore made choice of ſome fit place of Ground, […] let it be Broken up the Winter before you ſow, to mellow it, eſpecially if it be a Clay, and then the furrow would be made deeper; […]1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “. Chapter II. Of the Seminary.”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes]...
- To reduce or remove the harshness or roughness from (something); to soften, to subdue, to tone down.
- VVas thought-exceeding glorification, ſuch a cloyance and cumber vnto me, that I muſt leaue it: as Archeſilaus ouer-melodied, and too-much melovved & ſugred with ſvveet tunes, turned them aſide, and cauſed his ears to be nevv reliſhed vvith harſh ſovver and vnſauory ſounds?1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 16, verso
- The page was eaſily mellowd with his attractive eloquence, as what heart of adamant, or encloſed in a crocodyles ſkin (which no yron will pierce) that hath the power to withſtand the Mercurian heavenly charme of hys rhetorique?1596, Tho[mas] Nashe, “Dialogus”, in Haue with You to Saffron-Walden. Or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up. […], London: […] John Danter, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Have with...
- To cause (a person) to become calmer, gentler, and more understanding, particularly from age or experience.
- The fervour of early feeling is tempered and mellowed by the ripeness of age.
- To cause (a person) to become slightly or pleasantly drunk or intoxicated.
- In the course of the day [Manuel] Lisa undertook to tamper with the faith of Pierre Dorion [Jr.], and, inviting him on board of his boat, regaled him with his favorite whiskey. When he thought him sufficiently mellowed, he proposed to him to quit the service of his new employers and return to his...1836 October, Washington Irving, chapter XIX, in Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, & Blanchard...
- He found the bailiff riding by the farm, / And, talking from the point, he drew him in, / And there he mellow'd all his heart with ale, / Until they closed a bargain, hand in hand.1855, Alfred Tennyson, “The Brook; an Idyl”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 109
- Followed by out: to relax (a person); in particular, to cause (a person) to become pleasantly high or stoned by taking drugs.
- To mature and lose its harshness or sharpness.
- To be rendered soft and suitable for planting in.
- To lose harshness; to become gentler, subdued, or toned down.
- So now proſperitie begins to mellow / And drop into the rotten mouth of Death: […]c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- [T]ill death us lay / To ripe and mellow, here we're stubborn clay.a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “On Himself”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume VI, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 560
- To relax; in particular, to become pleasantly high or stoned by taking drugs.
Proper noun capitalized: Mellow
Mellow (plural Mellows)
- A surname.
mellow meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
mellow in Tamil
- இனிய, கனிந்த, சுவையான, பக்குவமான, முதிர்வுற்ற
mellow in Urdu
- دھیما, خلیق, مدھم, پکا ہوا
mellow in Bengali
- কোমল, মধুর, পাকা, শান্ত ও ধীর
mellow in Malayalam
- മൃദുവായ, പാകത വന്ന, പ്രസന്നമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- mellow in Kannada
- ಮಾಗಿದ, ಕಳಿತ, ಪಕ್ವವಾದ, ರಸಭರಿತ
- mellow in Thai
- หวานฉ่ำ wǎan-chàm, ร่วน rûuan, สุขุม sù-kǔm
Examples of mellow in a sentence
- As Hercules did ſhake downe Mellow Fruite: You haue made faire worke.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies...
- A little longer, yet a little longer, / And Nature drops him down, without your Sin, / Like mellow Fruit, without a Winter Storm.1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page...
- Ay, how fine they be in their liveries, and each of 'em as full of meat as an egg, and as sleek and as round about as a mellow codlin.1892, Alfred Tennyson, The Foresters: Robin Hood and Maid Marian, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 3:
- For putrid Earth will beſt in Vineyards take, / And hoary Froſts, after the painful Toyl / Of delving Hinds, will rot the Mellow Soil.1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and...
Synonyms of mellow
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of mellow
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | mellower |
| comparative | more mellow |
| superlative | mellowest |
| superlative | most mellow |
| Noun | |
| plural | mellows |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | mellows |
| present participle | mellowing |
| past participle | mellowed |
| past | mellowed |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Mellows |
Origin of mellow
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English melowe, melwe (“ripe, mellow; juicy; sweet”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from an attributive use of melow, melowe, melewe, mele (“meal from ground grain or legumes; flour; kernel of barley or lentils”) [and other forms], from Old English melo, melu (“meal (edible part of a grain or pulse); flour”), from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“ground corn; meal; flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush; to grind”); or * a variant of Middle English merow, merowe, meruw (“soft, tender; of a person: frail; of love: unstable, variable”) [and other forms], from Old English meru, mearu (“soft, tender; delicate, frail; callow”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *marwaz (“soft, mellow; brittle, delicate”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- (“to rub; to pack”). The noun and verb are both derived from the adjective. The etymology of noun sense 3 (“close friend; lover”) is unknown, but may also be derived from the adjective. Cognates * Dutch murw (“tender”) * German mürbe (“soft, tender”) * German Low German möör (“tender”) * Old Norse mör (“tender; aching”) (Icelandic meyr (“tender”)) * Saterland Frisian muur...
Perhaps a variant of Mellor.
Words formed from mellow
Phrases with mellow
Words that rhyme with mellow
10 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about mellow
- What does mellow mean?
- Mellow means soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
- What is mellow in Tamil?
- Mellow in Tamil is இனிய, கனிந்த, சுவையான. See Mellow meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use mellow in a sentence?
- As Hercules did ſhake downe Mellow Fruite: You haue made faire worke.
- What part of speech is mellow?
- Mellow can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce mellow?
- Mellow is pronounced /ˈmɛləʊ/ (UK).
Words near mellow in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mellow (page history and authors); Mellow (page history and authors); mellow (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mellow (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mellow (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mellow (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mellow (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-mellow.ogg.
Cite this entry: “mellow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mellow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.