mellow

Universal Words adjective, verb adjective (mellower, mellowest) 1 (of colour or sound) soft, rich and pleasant: mellow autumn colours * Mellow music and lighting helped to create the right atmosphere. * The leaves looked golden in the mellow afternoon light. 2 (of a taste or flavour) smooth and pleasant: a mellow, fruity wine * coffee with a full mellow flavour 3 (of people) calm, gentle and reasonable because of age or experience: Dad's certainly grown mellower with age. 4 (informal) (of people) relaxed, calm and happy, especially after drinking alcohol: After two glasses of wine, I was feeling mellow. verb 1 to become or make sb become less extreme in their attitudes, behaviour, etc., especially as a result of growing older: [V] She had mellowed a great deal since their days at college. * [VN] A period spent working abroad had done nothing to mellow him. 2 [V, VN] to become, or make a colour become less bright, especially over a period of time 3 [V, VN] to develop or make wine develop a pleasant and less bitter taste over a period of time PHRASALVERBS mellow out (informal, especially AmE) to enjoy yourself by relaxing and not doing much: We just listened to music and mellowed out all afternoon.