mollycoddle

English

WOTD – 5 February 2009

Etymology

From molly +‎ coddle.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒl.ɪˌkɒd.əl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑl.iˌkɑd.əl/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɒdəl

Noun

mollycoddle (plural mollycoddles)

1. (now rare) A person, especially a man or a boy, who is pampered and overprotected.
   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 32, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     You have been bred up as a molly-coddle, Pen, and spoilt by the women.

   • 2004, Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage:

     No matter what pacifist "flubdubs and flapdoodle mollycoddles" might say, the President [Teddy Roosevelt] knew that if there were a general war then America could well be drawn into it.

Translations

person who is pampered and overprotected

• Bulgarian: мамино детенце (mamino detence)
• Czech: mazánek m
• Dutch: wekeling (nl), moederskindje (nl)
• Finnish: mammanpoika (fi)
• Greek: παραχαϊδεμένος (el) m (parachaïdeménos)

  Ancient: τηθαλλαδοῦς m (tēthalladoûs)

• Irish: peata mamaí m
• Italian: cocco (it) m, beniamino (it) m, coccolo (it) m, prediletto (it) m, preferito (it) m
• Serbo-Croatian: mamina maza f, maza (sh) f, razmaženko (sh) m
• Turkish: hanım evladı, muhallebi çocuğu (tr)

Verb

mollycoddle (third-person singular simple present mollycoddles, present participle mollycoddling, simple past and past participle mollycoddled)

1. (transitive) To be overprotective and indulgent toward; to pamper.
   • 1904, Sabine Baring-Gould, The White Flag:

     Heerendorp by this means obtained an evil notoriety, and it was ordered to be burnt, and the women of Jacob's family to be transferred to a concentration camp where they would be mollycoddled at the expense of the English taxpayer.

   • Oct 13th 2012, “Policy prescriptions: A True Progressivism”, in The Economist‎^[1]:

     Rich countries also need more competition in traditionally mollycoddled sectors such as education.

Translations

to be overprotective and indulgent toward — see also pamper

• Bulgarian: глезя (bg) (glezja), изнежвам (bg) (iznežvam)
• Czech: rozmazlovat
• Dutch: vertroetelen (nl), bemoederen (nl), pamperen (nl)
• French: couver (fr), materner (fr)
• German: verhätscheln (de)
• Greek: παραχαϊδεύω (el) (parachaïdévo), κανακεύω (el) (kanakévo)
• Hungarian: ajnároz (hu), babusgat (hu), tutujgat (hu), elkényeztet (hu), kényeztet (hu)
• Maori: morimori
• Polish: rozpieścić (pl), rozpieszczać (pl)
• Russian: балова́ть (ru) n or impf (balovátʹ)