Mollify: meaning and SAT practice
Mollify (verb) means: To calm or reduce the anger of someone.
Mollify in a sentence
The manager tried to mollify the upset customer with a refund.
Similar: appease, pacify, soothe, placate, calm. Opposite: anger, enrage, provoke.
SAT-style practice: what does “mollify” most nearly mean?
The manager tried to mollify the upset customer with a refund.
As used in the sentence, “mollify” most nearly means
- confirm
- assert
- appease
- hinder
Show the answer
Answer: C. “mollify” means: To calm or reduce the anger of someone. “appease” is the closest match in this sentence. The other choices are real SAT-level words, but none of them carries that meaning here.
On the digital SAT this is the “Words in Context” skill, about 7 of the 54 Reading and Writing questions. The test asks what a word means as used in the passage, so a word’s most common meaning is not always the answer. More of these, with full explanations, are on SAT Words in Context practice questions.
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