dulcify means to sweeten the taste of. It carries an Arena rating of 1645, earned across 14 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, dulcify ranks #3,150 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,199 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #3,726 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,826 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
dulcify is pronounced /ˈdʌlsɪfaɪ/.
Why “dulcify” is a great word
To render something agreeable or sweet, whether to the tongue or to the spirit. From Latin dulcificō, from dulcis ("sweet") + -ficō (a suffix meaning "to make"). First known use 1599. Unlike "sweeten," which most often concerns the literal addition of sugar, or "pacify," which aims merely to quell disturbance, to dulcify is to imbue with a positive quality of mildness and charm. It is the honey stirred into a bitter tonic, the softening of a harsh truth with a gentle tone, the deliberate cultivation of a mellow and amiable disposition—a quiet alchemy that conjures grace from what is coarse.
Etymology
From Latin dulcificō.
verb
- To sweeten the taste of.
- To make sweeter or more pleasant.e.g.“And there was, to dulcify for her the bath of this evening, the yet sharper contrast with the plight she had just come home in, sopped, shivering, clung to by her clothes.” — 1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson:
- To neutralise the acidity of.
- To mollify or make peaceful.e.g.“He knew all the things to say to dulcify his mother.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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