Make Your Point > Archived Issues > MOLLIFY

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connect this word to others: I love the core message of Disney's Frozen: that all you need to thaw, or mollify, a frozen heart is love. To mollify a hard heart is to make it softer, to provide an _moll___t: something that soothes and softens feelings of hurt, anger, or bitterness. Can you recall that word? Like mollify, it comes from the Latin word for "soft." (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "MOLLIFY" This word has Latin roots that mean "to make soft." We hardly ever use the literal sense of this word: "to make soft," as in "to mollify rough hair." Here's Sylvia Plath: "Water mollifies the flint lip, And daylight lays its sameness on the wall." Most of the time, we use this word figuratively. To mollify angry people is to soften their hearts or soften their moods: to make them calmer and more peaceful. Pronunciation: MALL if eye Part of speech: Verb, the transitive kind: things mollify people, or people mollify other people. Other forms: mollified, mollifying, mollifyingly, mollifier(s), mollification How to use it:  Pick the word "mollify" when you're talking about soothing people who are angry, bitter, or hurt--regardless of intention. That is, you might mollify people because you truly want to help them, or because you need them to hush up or fall in line. Talk about people, words, actions, offerings and so on that mollify people--either individuals ("her profuse apologies mollified Effie") or groups ("the new legislation mollified advocates for gun control"). Often we mollify people with something ("she mollified them with a compromise") or we mollify people by doing something ("she mollified them by agreeing to a compromise"). It's a good thing if you can mollify someone, but since that's not always possible, we often use the word "mollify" negatively: "the promise failed to mollify the protesters," "the voters won't be mollified by these vague assurances," "the staff tried, unsuccessfully, to mollify him with a glazed donut." examples: "I was too tired to care about Oliver and in a detached, exhausted way I heard him resentfully banging the parts of the cot together. We rubbed along for a couple of weeks: me mollifying him with flattery and good food, him quoting the Bible and strumming his guitar."    — Cora Coleman, Nobody's Child, 2007 "Krum was looking more and more suspicious. 'How do you know Gregorovitch made my vand?' 'I ... I read it somewhere, I think,' said Harry. 'In a – a fan magazine,' he improvised wildly and Krum looked mollified."    — J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2015 has this page helped you understand "mollify"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "mollify" without saying "ease" or "mellow." try it out: In Human Rights & Education, William M. Rideout, Jr. points out that, even in countries where it's a law that everyone gets a free education, that doesn't mean everyone does get one. To believe that everyone in your country does get a free, appropriate education, one that's just as good as everyone else's, is a "self-mollifying delusion," Rideout says. "We are repeatedly faced with a pervasive dichotomy between policy and practice--between what should be and what is in terms of practice and reality." Talk about what he means. Why might this delusion mollify the people who hold it? Can you think of any other beliefs or delusions that people use to mollify themselves? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month: Anagrams! Rearrange the letters in the given word to form a word we've studied before. Try to recall its meaning, too.  For example, if I give you DYED, you give me EDDY. If I give you THREAD, you give me DEARTH. And if I give you COTERIES, you give me ESOTERIC. Try this one today: DIALECT. Give yourself 5 points if you can figure out the word without clues. To reveal the clues, hover over the blue text below. Give yourself 4 points if you figure it out after peeking at the part of speech: Noun. Give yourself 3 points if you figure it out after peeking at the definition: something that reminds you of a longstanding fortress because it strongly protects something. Give yourself 2 points if you figure it out after peeking at the first letter: C. Give yourself 1 point if you figure it out after peeking at the first two letters: CI. And if you'd like to reveal or review the word, click here. review this word: 1. The opposite of MOLLIFYING is A. ANESTHETIZING (numbing the heart). B. INDURATING (hardening the heart). C. JADING (exhausting the heart). 2. In mathematics, to "mollify" is to generate a _____ approximation of a function. A. linear B. smooth C. perfect 1. B 2. B a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.