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This mollycoddled outdated practices, like harvesting by hand.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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mollycoddle
Verb
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Pluribus crackles with terrific comic tension as Carol wakes up next to her dead partner, filled with grief yet spoiling for a fight.—
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Without spoiling too much, the two-minute clip finds Carol weathering ample concern for her less-than-cheery demeanor.—
Verb
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The Rams nursed a slim three-point lead when both teams headed to their respective locker rooms at the end of the second quarter.—
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Long before he was spotted in the tunnel bent over to nurse his latest injury, Davis attempted to play through the injury.—
Verb
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The skaters, staff, volunteers and fans were generous in indulging me.—
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José Daniel Ferrer’s life exposes the costs of indulging revolutionary illusions.—
Verb
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Police officers, in my view, coddled Lorincz and failed to protect her Black neighbors, Owens among them.—
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As children, Keaton often dismissed her younger brother as a crybaby, scaredy cat and a nuisance who was coddled by their mother.—
Verb
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Each new piece was crafted to be simple, functional, and beautiful, giving parents peace of mind and babies a nurturing space to grow.—
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Hummers are the smallest and lightest of birds, some weighing no more than a coin, some babies the size of a bean.—
Verb
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State media in Iran called the protesters terrorists, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a public address on Friday, accusing Iranians of ruining their own streets to please the president of the United States.—
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Whether waffle or jacquard, bath sheet or bath towel, Egyptian long-staple cotton or Turkish organic cotton, our favorite high-end options aim to please.—
Verb
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Crystal Mountain, Michigan Founded in 1956 as a community ski area, Crystal Mountain (28 miles southwest of Traverse City) has become a destination for healthful, pampering getaways.—
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Whatever the case, pamper yourself in a pleasing way.—
Cite this Entry
“Mollycoddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mollycoddle. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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