Green’s Dictionary of Slang

mellow adj.

1. pleasantly drunk, tipsy.

[UK]Beaumont & Fletcher Coxcomb V i: Being a little mellow in his ale.
[UK]‘Mary Tattle-well’ Womens sharpe revenge 172: All sorts of people and Nations are drunk in severall formes [...] a Welchman stew’d as mellow as a Pruine [...] a Scotchman mull’d with drinke [...] an Irishman pickl’d in Vsquebaugh.
[UK] A. Brome ‘Grinning Honour’ in Ebsworth Merry Drollery Compleat (1875) 38: Lets drink good Canary untill we grow mellow.
[UK]N. Ward ‘The Poet’s Ramble after Riches’ in Writings (1704) 11: And Stagg’ring Swore, his Brains being mellow, / St. Greg’ry was an honest Fellow.
[UK]B.E. Dict. Canting Crew.
[UK]N. Ward Vulgus Britannicus IV 46: Supply’d their Wants with thin Old-Groats, / To cheer their Hearts and wet their Throats; / That they might Revel, Whoop and Hollow, / With more undaunted Zeal when Mellow.
[UK]New Canting Dict.
[UK]N. Hooke Sarah-Ad 19: My Mistress wou’d herself get mellow, / So hated a sly sober Fellow.
[Ire]K. O’Hara Midas I v: Our Squire, when mellow, ’Tis he shall do’t – he’s a rough, hect’ring fellow.
Garrick Epitaph on Goldsmith n.p.: ‘Here, Hermes,’ says Jove, who with nectar was mellow [F&H].
[UK] ‘The Dog and Duck Rig’ in Holloway & Black I (1975) 79: She will laugh whilst you’ve bit to get mellow.
[UK]C. Dibdin ‘A Little Mellow’ Buck’s Delight 5: For ev’ry night we’ll merry be, / When we’re a little mellow.
[UK]Anon. in ‘A Pembrochian’ Gradus ad Cantabrigiam 115: A Cantab was banish’d a year, / Just for roving a little when mellow.
[UK]Beppo in London x: A captivating fellow [...] fond of something that would make him mellow.
[UK]C. Dibdin Yngr Larks of Logic, Tom and Jerry I ii: nickem: Drink! why, dang it, you’re always drunk. snaggs: O, fie! a little mellow, but never maudling.
[UK]‘The Porker and the Ploughman’ in Tommarroo Songster in Spedding & Watt (eds) Bawdy Songbooks (2011) IV 336: So Bob went in a public house [...] / And join’d a jovial party there, and soon got rather mellow.
[UK] ‘Bet Farrell’ in Gentleman’s Spicey Songster 38: Now Bet you must know would get mellow, / Tho’ she was never known to drink gin.
[US] ‘How Sally Hooter Got Snake-Bit’ in T.A. Burke Polly Peablossom’s Wedding 67: After patronizing all the groceries, and getting rather mellow, he grew garrulous in the extreme.
[US](con. c.1840) ‘Mark Twain’ Huckleberry Finn (2001) 265: They both got powerful mellow.
[UK]Star 15 June 1/1: When the revelling crew was mellow, / And the vine juice passed along.
[US]S. Crane in N.Y. Press 20 May in Stallman (1966) 52: Billie came in, mellow with drink and in the eloquent stage.
[Aus]C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 48: Mellow, a little intoxicated.
[Aus]Bulletin (Sydney) 9 June 28/2: The play in itself is good enough. So is Walker’s whisky; but if you put a bottle of said whisky into a cask of water you’d have trouble getting mellow on the mixture.
[US]J. London ‘An Episode’ in Bamford Mystery of Jack London (1931) 251: They were not tight; only ‘mellow’.
[US]M. Prenner ‘Sl. Synonyms for “Drunk”’ in AS IV:2 102: basted [...] mellow.
[US]Archie Seale Man About Harlem 26 Oct. [synd. col.] One of the girls was so mellow she decided to remove the one undergarment which she wore.
[US]B. Schulberg What Makes Sammy Run? (1992) 15: ‘Good evening, young man,’ I said, feeling mellow on four or five highballs.
[US]‘James Updyke’ [W.R. Burnett] It’s Always Four O’Clock 103: Royal began to belt the Scotch and he also began to feel mellow.
[UK]J. Colebrook Cross of Lassitude 292: Cocaine’s a light, mellow, crazy high.
[US]R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 436: So we got very mellow together. I went back [...] and got two more pints.
[US]E. Leonard Glitz 211: I get mellow when I drink. I mel-low.
[US]‘Master Pimp’ Pimp’s Rap 1: I had been sipping on rum and coke all night long. [...] I was feeling good and mellow.
[Aus]S. Maloney Big Ask 166: A fleshy man with a nailbrush haircut, tie loosened, getting mellow.

2. (orig. US black, also mellowed) perfect, fine; esp. in phr. mellow as a cello; also adv. (see cite 1941).

[US]P.L. Dunbar ‘The Spellin’-Bee’ in Lyrics of Lowly Life 100: She spelt the word, then looked at me so lovin’-like an’ mello’.
[US]Cab Calloway Hi De Ho 16: mellow (adj.): all right, fine. Ex., ‘That’s mellow, Jack.’.
P. Grey ‘’Twixt Night ’n’ Dawn’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 7 Jan. 9/5: Even strangers will agree that the Big Apple [Cafe] is as mellow as a cello.
D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 5 Apr. 13: The Cat was togged out mellow, ready in cuttin’ blue.
[US]Helen Humes ‘Keep Your Mind On Me’ 🎵 Baby your mind is fine, and your body’s mellow as can be.
[US]C. Himes ‘Make with the Shape’ in Coll. Stories (1990) 113: It was strictly okay by him, mello as a cello, if you get what I mean, and fine as wine.
[US]L. Durst Jives of Dr. Hepcat (1989) 1: Gator, take a knock down to those blow tops, who are upping some real crazy riffs and dropping them on a mellow kick.
[US]L. Hughes Simply Heavenly Ii iii: The stuff is here and it’s mellowed!
[US]Lonnie Johnson ‘Big Leg Woman’ 🎵 She’s so fine, she’s so mellow.
[US]W. King ‘The Game’ in King Black Short Story Anthol. (1972) 302: I was in a mellow position.
[US]D. Goines Dopefiend (1991) 101: ‘Mellow,’ Snake replied.
[US]‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 101: The bread is mellow, but the smack goes down the crapper.
[US](con. 1960s) G. Washington Blood Brothers 32: Everything was so mellow.
[US]G. Tate Midnight Lightning 111: Quincy Jones captured a lot of that sound [...] Ooh, it was mellow. Real mellow.

3. (US black) of people and situations, relaxed and comfortable.

[US]Cab Calloway ‘Hep! Hep! The Jumpin’ Jive’ 🎵 Cats gonna beat out this mellow jive; / Hep-hep! / Beat it out on the mellow side.
[US]M.H. Boulware Jive and Sl. n.p.: Mellow ... Just right.
[US]T. Runyon In For Life 187: He was much more mellow [...] and he seemed concerned about many of the lifers.
[US]‘Lord Buckley’ Hiparama of the Classics 19: Up go Nero, he feel very mellow in-deed.
[US](con. 1930s) R. Wright Lawd Today 197: This is a mellow joint.
[US](con. 1950s) D. Goines Whoreson 95: You sure are mellow, baby.
[UK](con. 1975) W. Sherman Times Square 348: At least he’ll stay mellow.
[US]R. Shell Iced 136: I had never, ever, ever felt so mellow.
[US]C. Cook Robbers (2001) 3: The mellow chilled-out days mere mythic history.
[UK]G. Iles Turning Angel 338: Up by the stage it’s mellow. Everybody’s hugging and holding hands.
[Aus]P. Doyle (con. 1969-1973) Big Whatever 23: Why would mellow cat Mel Parker own a fucking roscoe?
[Ire]L. McInerney Blood Miracles 92: ‘[Y]ou’re as fucking mellow as he is’.
[Scot]A. Parks February’s Son 171: ‘Come on, man,’ he said, [...] ‘Stay mellow.’ ‘Mellow, my arse,’ said McCoy and held out his ID card.

4. (US black) attractive, stylish.

[US]Slanguage Dict. 59: A mellow mouse – What a babe!
[US]‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 61: Everybody knows that your game is ‘mellow’.
[US]‘Soulful Spider’ ‘Pimp in a Clothing Store’ in Milner & Milner (1972) 287: Well looka here, we got this old thing up here, this mellow fellow shirt, mel-low fel-low shirt. This shirt here is called ‘French Tony.’.

5. (US black) of a friend, close, intimate.

[US] in Leadbitter & Slaven Blues Records 108: [title] My Mellow Man.
[US]D. Claerbaut Black Jargon in White America 72: mellow adj. [...] Intimate, close.
[US]Detroit Free Press (MI) 6 July 17/1: mellow (we’re mellow) — friends.

6. calm, peaceful, unconcerned with the material or painful, a state often induced by smoking cannabis.

Buster Bailey ‘Light Up’ 🎵 Light up! Let’s all get mellow / Light up! Here’s smoke in your eye!
[US]Cab Calloway ‘Let’s Go Joe’ 🎵 Come on, Joe, let’s go! / Stuff’s really mellow on the Alamo.
[US]Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 75: The gauge [...] had them treetop tall, mellow as a cello.
[US]‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 79: This is light green ‘pot’ from ‘chilli gut’ country. It will make us mellow.
[US]Milner & Milner Black Players 150: They returned [from injecting cocaine] somewhat ‘mellow,’ enjoying their high.
[US]M. Baker Nam (1982) 91: A half of one of those joints — and those guys were smoking two or three joints by themselves and just getting mellow — half a joint got six guys high.
[Aus]P. Doyle (con. late 1950s) Amaze Your Friends (2019) 15: ‘You better crank up one of them reefers [...] get mellow’.
[UK]K. Sampson Powder 71: She’d become more mellow, less hyper in the short time she’d worked with Guy.
[UK]M. Manning Get Your Cock Out 138: They’d [...] smoked a shit load of skunk to get them mellow.

7. of drugs, relaxing.

[US]Current Sl. V:4 16: Mellow, adj. Clear, especially as applied to a certain part of a drug trip.
[US]L. Heinemann Close Quarters (1987) 286: Smoke so mellow somebody gets blown away every time it rains hard.
[US]J. Wambaugh Finnegan’s Week 283: Naw, this ain’t even good cringe [...] I’m jist mellow.

In compounds

mellow-back (adj.) [back adv.]

(US black) fashionable, chic, well-dressed.

[US] ‘Idioms of the Present-Day American Negro’ in AS XIII:4 Dec. 314/2: MELLOW BACK. Adjective used to describe a killer.
[US]C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Sl. n.p.: Mellow-back...fashionably dressed.
mellow dude (n.) (also mellow fellow) [dude n.1 ]

(US drugs) a drug user.

[US]Cressey & Ward Delinquency, Crime, and Social Process 806: The primary difference between a ‘mellow fellow’ and a ‘pot head’ lies in the regularity of drug use [...] Mellow dudes distinguish themselves from pot heads in that they take no special pride in using drugs.
[US]E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).
mellow man (n.)

(US teen) an attractive boy.

[US]Yank (Far East edn) 24 Mar. 18/2–3: Some of today’s teen-agers – pleasantly not many – talk the strange new language of ‘sling swing.’ In the bright lexicon of the good citizens of tomorrow [...] A boy whose mug and muscles appeal to the girls is a ‘mellow man’, a ‘hunk of heartbreak’ or a ‘glad lad’.
mellow yellow (n.)

see separate entry.

In phrases

mellow drug of America (n.)

MDA (3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine), a hallucinogenic that resembles LSD in its effects; it has the same chemical formula as MDMA, but is not identical.

A. Shulgin PiHKAL [Phenethylamines i Have Known and Loved] 🌐 MDA was called the ‘hug-drug’ and was said to stand for Mellow Drug of America.
[US]Community Counseling and Resource Center 🌐 ‘Designer Drugs’: MDA – love drug, speed for lovers, mellow drug of America.
mellow out (v.) (also mellow off)

(orig. US) to calm oneself down, to calm someone down, to relax, esp. under the influence of drugs.

[US]Cressey & Ward Delinquency, Crime, and Social Process 806: I mean it’s a boss high (pleasant experience), mellow off, listen to music, just groove you know.
[US]Jenkins & Shrake Limo 149: I’m like mellowed out for the summer,’ said Jeff.
[US]C. McFadden Serial 25: How about we all smoke a little dope and mellow out.
[US]Harper’s Mag. Nov. 33: They will ‘hang loose’ and ‘lay back’ and, so mellowed out, the last thing of which they wish to hear is heroism.
[US]C. Hiaasen Tourist Season (1987) 58: Viceroy Wilson [...] lit up a joint, jacked up the a/c, and mellowed out.
[UK]J. Morton Lowspeak 98: Mellow off – to quieten down, as in ‘I told him to mellow off’.
[US]Source Nov. 138: A very lifted Bobo mellows out by the swimming pool.
[US]S. King Dreamcatcher 97: Ma’am, they’re almost gone. Mellow out, okay?
[Aus]R.G. Barrett Mystery Bay Blues 246: It wasn’t bad pot [...] Les mellowed out on the couch while Grace got the video together.
D.A. Summers ‘Nothing to Lose’ in ThugLit Nov.-Dec. [ebook] ‘We’d [...] mellow out later with some weed’.