mellow Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb soften, make mellow
    • Age and experience mellowed him over the years
  2. verb become more relaxed, easygoing, or genial
    mellow out; melt.
    • With age, he mellowed
  3. verb make or grow (more) mellow
    • These apples need to mellow a bit more
    • The sun mellowed the fruit
  4. adjective satellite unhurried and relaxed
    laid-back.
    • a mellow conversation
  5. adjective satellite having a full and pleasing flavor through proper aging
    mellowed.
    • a mellow port
    • mellowed fruit
  6. adjective satellite having attained to kindliness or gentleness through age and experience
    mellowed.
    • mellow wisdom
    • the peace of mellow age
  7. adjective satellite having attained to kindliness or gentleness through age and experience
    • mellow wisdom
    • the peace of mellow age
  8. adjective satellite slightly and pleasantly intoxicated from alcohol or a drug (especially marijuana)
    high.
  9. adverb (obsolete) in a mellow manner
    mellowly.

WordNet

Mel"low adjective
Etymology
OE. melwe; cf. AS. mearu soft, D. murw, Prov. G. mollig soft, D. malsch, and E. meal flour.
Wordforms
comparative Mellower ; superlative Mellowest
Definitions
  1. Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp; as, a mellow apple.
  2. Hence: (a) Easily worked or penetrated; not hard or rigid; as, a mellow soil. "Mellow glebe." Drayton (b) Not coarse, rough, or harsh; subdued; soft; rich; delicate; -- said of sound, color, flavor, style, etc. "The mellow horn." Wordsworth. "The mellow-tasted Burgundy." Thomson.
    The tender flush whose mellow stain imbues Heaven with all freaks of light. Percival.
  3. Well matured; softened by years; genial; jovial.
    May health return to mellow age. Wordsworth.
    As merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound. W. Irving.
  4. Warmed by liquor; slightly intoxicated. Addison.
Mel"low transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Mellowed ; present participle & verbal noun Mellowing
Definitions
  1. To make mellow. Shak.
    If the Weather prove frosty to mellow it [the ground], they do not plow it again till April. Mortimer.
    The fervor of early feeling is tempered and mellowed by the ripeness of age. J. C. Shairp.
Mel"low intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To become mellow; as, ripe fruit soon mellows. "Prosperity begins to mellow." Shak.

Webster 1913