different between diminish vs mollify

English

Etymology

Formed under the influence of both diminue (from Old French diminuer, from Latin d?minuo) and minish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??m?n??/

Verb

diminish (third-person singular simple present diminishes, present participle diminishing, simple past and past participle diminished)

1. (transitive) To make smaller.
2. (intransitive) To become smaller.
3. (transitive) To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken; to nerf (in gaming).
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Ezekiel 29:15,^[1]

     It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

   • 1639, Ralph Robinson (translator), Utopia by Thomas More, London, Book 2, “Of their journying or travelling abroad,” p. 197,^[2]

     […] this doth nothing diminish their opinion.

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 4, lines 32-35,^[3]

     O thou, that, with surpassing glory crowned,

     Lookest from thy sole dominion like the God

     Of this new world; at whose sight all the stars

     Hide their diminished heads; to thee I call,

   • 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, London: André Deutsch, Chapter 3,

     In Seth’s presence Mr Biswas felt diminished. Everything about Seth was overpowering: his calm manner, his smooth grey hair, his ivory holder, his hard swollen forearms […]

4. (intransitive) To taper.
   • 1853, Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford, London: J.M. Dent, 1904, Chapter 8, p. 120,^[4]

     The chair and table legs diminished as they neared the ground, and were straight and square in all their corners.

5. (intransitive) To disappear gradually.
   • 1948, Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter, Penguin, 1971, Part Two, Chapter 2, 1, p. 77,^[5]

     ‘Good evening, good evening,’ Father Rank called. His stride lengthened and he caught a foot in his soutane and stumbled as he went by. ‘A storm’s coming up,’ he said. ‘Got to hurry,’ and his ‘ho, ho, ho’ diminished mournfully along the railway track, bringing no comfort to anyone.

6. (transitive) To take away; to subtract.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Deuteronomy 4:2,^[6]

     Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Antonyms

• improve, repair, renovate

Derived terms

• diminishment
• law of diminishing returns

Related terms

• diminution

Translations

Anagrams

• minidish

English

Alternative forms

• mollifie

Etymology

From Middle English mollifien, from Late Latin mollific?, from Latin mollis (“soft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?l?fa?/

Verb

mollify (third-person singular simple present mollifies, present participle mollifying, simple past and past participle mollified)

1. To ease a burden, particularly worry; make less painful; to comfort.
   • 1893, Henry George, The Condition of Labor: An Open Letter to Pope Leo XIII, p. 104:

     All that charity can do where injustice exists is here and there to somewhat mollify the effects of injustice.

   • 1997, A Government Reinvented: A Study of Alberta's Deficit Elimination Program, p. 408:

     The draft Charter School Handbook issued in November 1994 sought to mollify concerns over teacher quality, if not ATA membership, by requiring teacher certification.

2. To appease (anger), pacify, gain the good will of.
   • 1867, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, chapter 2:

     Although this invitation was accompanied with a curtsey that might have softened the heart of a church-warden, it by no means mollified the beadle.

   • 1916, L. Frank Baum, Rinkitink in Oz, chapter 5:

     The angry goat was quite mollified by the respectful tone in which he was addressed.

   • 2016 January 31, "Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?," Vanity Fair (retrieved 21 January 2016):

     But these answers did not mollify Grassley. Specifically, he objected to Abedin’s becoming an S.G.E., because he believed she provided no irreplaceable expertise and therefore her designation as one had violated Congress’s intent when it created the program, in 1962.

3. To soften; to make tender
   • 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book III, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 113:

     "Nor is it any more difficulty for him to mollifie what is hard, then it is to harden what is so soft and fluid as the Aire."

   • 1724, William Burkitt, Expository Notes, with Practical Observations on the New Testament, p. 102:

     By thy kindness thou wilt melt and mollify his spirit towards thee, as hardest metals are melted by coals of fire …

Synonyms

• (to ease a burden): assuage, calm, comfort, mitigate, soothe
• (to appease): appease, conciliate, pacify, placate, propitiate, satisfy
• (to soften): soften, soften up, tenderize, temper, anneal, deharden, distemper
• See also Thesaurus:calm

Related terms

• emollient
• mollification

Translations