Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Softening and soothing, especially to the skin.
- adjective Making less harsh or abrasive; mollifying.
- noun An agent that softens or soothes the skin.
- noun An agent that assuages or mollifies.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Softening; making soft or supple; serving to relax the solids of anything.
- noun A therapeutic agent or process which softens and relaxes living tissues, as a poultice or massage. The word was formerly applied to the so-called demulcents.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) An external something or soothing application to allay irritation, soreness, etc.
- adjective Softening; making supple; acting as an emollient.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Something which
softens orlubricates the skin. - noun Anything
soothing the mind, or that makes something moreacceptable . - adjective
Moisturizing . - adjective
Soothing ormollifying .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having a softening or soothing effect especially to the skin
- noun toiletry consisting of any of various substances in the form of a thick liquid that have a soothing and moisturizing effect when applied to the skin
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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From what I’ve been able to glean online, it’s a hormonal thing, and no amount of soaking in emollient baths seems to make a blind bit of difference.
knocked update 2009
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From what I’ve been able to glean online, it’s a hormonal thing, and no amount of soaking in emollient baths seems to make a blind bit of difference.
sex 2009
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Peter Riddell, author of "The Unfulfilled Prime Minister: Tony Blair and the End of Optimism," says that if Brown, once he's become prime minister, cannot be "emollient" to hard-core Blairites, the "fault lines" will widen, possibly splitting the party in two.
Periscope 2007
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A more emollient figure than Eric Pickles – who could start a fight in an empty room – might reduce the levels of animosity between the government and local councils.
Reshuffle in haste, Mr Cameron, and you will repent at leisure | Andrew Rawnsley 2011
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Ever emollient, she adds: "If we succeed it should mean that the rest of the system should be doing more and better."
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"You clearly have no idea at all about what I actually said but I wouldn't want you to let the facts get in the way of a good rant," replied the ever emollient Davies.
Hugh Muir's diary 2011
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Senior officials and diplomats in Brussels confirmed that the IMF threat to pull the plug on its funding, in stark contrast to the more emollient line of Strauss-Kahn, had been defused because of a German climbdown.
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I hated to see it, and from a fact-checking point of view there were real questions about whether she uses Botox, or another emollient derived from Clostridium botulinum.
My Super PAC Is Driving Me CRAZY Peter Jeffrey 2012
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Senior officials and diplomats in Brussels confirmed that the IMF threat to pull the plug on its funding, in stark contrast to the more emollient line of Strauss-Kahn, had been defused because of a German climbdown.
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"You clearly have no idea at all about what I actually said but I wouldn't want you to let the facts get in the way of a good rant," replied the ever emollient Davies.
Hugh Muir's diary 2011
milosrdenstvi commented on the word emollient
Hail, poetry, thou heav'n-born maid!
Thou gildest e'en the pirate's trade!
Hail, flowing fount of sentiment!
All hail, all hail, Divine Emollient!
-- W.S. Gilbert, The Pirates of Penzance
I really ought to do a G&S list.
August 20, 2008