This week’s theme
Words derived after names

This week’s words
John Henry
mollycoddle
Jones
patsy
jasper

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(MOL-ee-kod-uhl)

MEANING:

noun: A pampered or overprotected person.
verb tr.: To overprotect or pamper.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Molly (a nickname for Mary) + coddle (to treat or boil gently), from caudle (a warm drink for the sick), from Latin caldum (hot drink), from calidus (warm). Earliest documented use: 1823.

USAGE:

“What a mollycoddle you are, crying for your parents.”
Sabrina Jeffries; What the Duke Desires; Simon & Schuster; 2013.

“Why are we mollycoddling these people? ... There is a reason why we don’t ask drunks how they feel about not being allowed to drive the car.”
Jonn Elledge; Why Does the Media Mollycoddle Anti-Vaxxers?; The New Statesman (London, UK); Aug 18, 2021.

See more usage examples of mollycoddle in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: