mollycoddling

verb

present participle of mollycoddle
as in spoiling
to treat with great or excessive care refused to mollycoddle her malingering son and sent him off to school

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mollycoddling
  1. spoiling
  2. indulging
  3. nursing
  4. coddling
  5. babying
Verb
  • But there were also drawbacks, mainly a fear of accidentally spoiling certain events that occur in season six.
    — Lisa de los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Without spoiling the big second-act reveal, no one in this play – or in the audience – has an unchallengeable claim on the truth.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of spoiling
Verb
  • Shaw’s witty drawing-room debates also warn of a society indulging its whims as catastrophe approaches — a question of how to live when the world careens toward darkness.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Adults aren’t always used to indulging this kind of curiosity.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of indulging
Verb
  • The Saints could be without star quarterback Brailon Davis who’s nursing an injury, but backup Bodie Brown has stepped in and completed 32 of 45 for 454 yards and seven touchdowns in the past two games.
    — Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Orlando has spent decades nursing an enormous inferiority complex to the bigger, older, richer, and more historically relevant cities in Florida, the Southeast, and the East Coast.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of nursing
Verb
  • League brass can keep coddling bitter media figures, or stand up for the fans paying for tickets.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The gentle, foaming elixir feels soft on skin, rinsing away dirt and makeup while hydrating and coddling with flaxseed oil.
    — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of coddling
Verb
  • No one’s babying him (at Houston).
    — David Aldridge, New York Times, 21 June 2026
  • Conceivably one or two of them should have already been at Citi Field, but until finally summoning McLean to pitch Saturday, Stearns has been babying them in the minors.
    — Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 16 Aug. 2025
Definition of babying
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

mollycoddles
mollycoddling
molt
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Cite this Entry

“Mollycoddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mollycoddling. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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