as in to spoil
to treat with great or excessive care
refused to mollycoddle her malingering son and sent him off to school
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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This mollycoddled outdated practices, like harvesting by hand.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
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This mollycoddled outdated practices, like harvesting by hand.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.—
Jack Fitzgerald,
Car and Driver,
13 Feb. 2023
-
Farmers’ broiler chickens suffocate, and dairy products spoil.—
Monica Mark,
The Christian Science Monitor,
10 Feb. 2023
Verb
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Today’s retirement stewards nurse a Rube Goldberg contraption of laws, one-off integrations and workarounds.—
Miguel Kudry,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
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After starting Saturday sharing the lead, Ben Griffin and Matthias Schmid continued their control of the leaderboard at the Charles Schwab Challenge with the pair nursing a 4-stroke lead headed into Sunday’s final round.—
Lawrence Dow,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
25 May 2025
Verb
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Lot holders know that tchotchkes aren’t allowed but that the grounds crew will indulge them, for a time.—
Paige Williams,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
-
Strive to indulge once in a while without overdoing it.—
Leigh Morgan,
Quartz,
2 June 2025
Verb
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Instead of doing anything to correct her delinquent son, Mahnaz coddles the boy and resents those who attempt to discipline him.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
22 May 2025
-
Why are her landlord and the town of Huntley still coddling her?—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
21 May 2025
Verb
-
Be babied by him with back rubs, head scratches and order fast food for dinner.—
Emily St. Martin,
Oc Register,
9 May 2025
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But Vance thinks the real problem is that people just aren’t babying hard enough.—
Rachel Marsden,
Hartford Courant,
8 May 2025
Verb
-
Politics is a service business and Trump and his Capitol Hill allies are aiming to please the customer.—
David M. Drucker,
Twin Cities,
8 June 2025
-
Any shift on the key issues could topple the high-wire act needed to please House and Senate Republicans.—
Benjamin Siegel,
ABC News,
7 June 2025
Verb
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Although less worldly than Welles, Anderson has a career that’s better financed, if not pampered, and that remains quintessentially American.—
Armond White,
National Review,
30 May 2025
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The attached Milk + Honey spa provides convenient pampering after travel, with a menu that has everything from an express facial and traditional massages to chemical peels and hair treatments.—
Claudia Fisher,
Travel + Leisure,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mollycoddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mollycoddle. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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