What does mollifiable mean?
Mollifiable means capable of being softened, moderated, or made less harsh. The word is especially useful for discussing figurative subjects such as disputes, rules, attitudes, or wording that can be made more conciliatory without being abandoned altogether. For example, a dispute described as mollifiable may be settled through compromise because its underlying hostility can be reduced. The term can also apply more literally to a material or substance that can be softened. Mollifiable is relatively uncommon and has a formal, mildly academic register; in everyday speech, a phrase such as open to compromise or capable of being softened may sound more natural. Its formation is transparent: adding the suffix -able to mollify creates an adjective meaning able to be mollified. The word belongs to a family associated with mollification and the Latin idea of making something soft.
adjectiveCapable of being softened, moderated, or made less harsh. It may describe physical substances or, figuratively, disputes, rules, attitudes, and other things whose intensity can be reduced.
- Capable of being softened, moderated, or made less harsh, especially in a figurative sense.
"The apparently irreconcilable dispute proved mollifiable once both sides began compromising."
"The apparently irreconcilable dispute proved mollifiable once both sides began compromising."
"The committee found the wording mollifiable and replaced its uncompromising language with a more conciliatory formulation."
Mollifiable captures the possibility of compromise: a dispute or rule may be softened without needing to disappear entirely.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mollifiable come from?
Mollifiable was formed in English by adding the suffix -able to mollify. Mollify comes through Old French from Latin mollificare, meaning ‘to make soft,’ which was formed from mollis, ‘soft,’ and facere, ‘to make.’ The same shared root connects the word with mollification and mollifier.
Related word forms
How mollifiable is actually used
This is a formal, uncommon adjective, encountered mainly in academic, legal, and political writing. It can describe anything whose harshness or rigidity can be reduced, although it should not be used merely as a substitute for flexible when physical shaping or adaptability is intended.
Easily confused with mollifiable
Mollifiable means capable of being softened or made less harsh, whereas modifiable means capable of being altered in a more general sense.
Mollify is the verb meaning to make something softer or less harsh, while mollifiable is the adjective describing something capable of being softened.