as in to spoil
to treat with great or excessive care
refused to mollycoddle her malingering son and sent him off to school
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mollycoddle
You’re not mollycoddled during the week and are expected to act as any professional crew member would.
—
Helen Iatrou, Robb Report, 14 Sep. 2023
So football generally, and pro football specifically, helped reassure the country that American men were not mollycoddled softies.
—James Surowiecki, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2019
Koenig may have supported Bernie Sanders in 2016, but Sanders’s mollycoddling platform never approaches the real-life perplexities that Koenig — a pop poet — sings about.
—Armond White, National Review, 10 Dec. 2019
Her poise is the result of a loving yet punctilious upbringing by parents determined that their fame and its accompanying perks were not going to mollycoddle their two children.
—Michael Callahan, Town & Country, 1 Aug. 2018
Both sides are mollycoddling their own predicaments with this talk.
—Chad Pergram, Fox News, 15 Mar. 2018
This mollycoddled outdated practices, like harvesting by hand.
—The Economist, 14 Dec. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mollycoddle
Verb
-
Dodge won't spoil the surprise by confirming if the last one will be based on the Charger or the Challenger (or maybe both), but the evidence suggests the latter is more likely.—
-
Farmers’ broiler chickens suffocate, and dairy products spoil.—
Verb
-
What's next: The company and the court will face an uphill climb to nurse the company back to health in an environment where investors have soured on electric vehicles and companies have pulled back on their EV plans.—
-
That’s so her milk won’t be wasted nursing her children.—
Verb
-
The national community could be knit together without indulging the chauvinism of belligerence.—
-
And sure, while indulging ourselves with a $400 tin of caviar isn’t exactly akin to buying a tube of lipstick for most of us, the sentiment is valid.—
Verb
-
Art historians, architects, engineers and master artisans spent six years restoring a 14th-century royal palace and turning it into the coddling nine-room Riad Fes Maya at the medina’s edge.—
-
By contrast, Republicans say, Democrats coddle criminals and disparage police.—
Verb
-
While her older brother, Crown Prince Hussein, is the heir to the throne, Iman is not in the line of succession—and neither may her baby.—
-
The sensitive child of the bunch doesn’t need to be babied.—
Verb
-
There would be no way to run a private company with the prices and services of the USPS that would please shareholders.—
-
The approach this year doesn’t mean that the resulting legislation will please everyone or will automatically sail through the legislature, said Clifford, a Centennial Democrat and police officer.—
Verb
-
Micellar Milk Froth Cleansing Gel & Makeup Remover Save yourself a step with this face wash that is strong enough to wash away makeup with its frothy foam while still pampering the skin barrier.—
-
Then, she was pampered and showered with love from volunteers at FAAS, a shelter that takes in strays.—
Cite this Entry
“Mollycoddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mollycoddle. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share