Mollycoddle (one unhyphenated word) was once primarily a noun meaning (1) a person, especially a male, who is coddled, and (2) an effeminate man. The word is English in origin. It came about in the early 19th century as a derogatory term for an effeminate man. In modern usage, however, those old connotations are largely lost, and the word usually functions as a verb meaning to be overprotective or overindulgent toward.
Examples
We find no examples of mollycoddle used as a noun in current news publications. In every example we find, it’s a verb (or, as mollycoddled, a participial adjective)—for example:
These are tough plants, so don’t mollycoddle them in a greenhouse unless you know them to be tender. [Daily Mail]
Controversial social commentator Celia Lashlie has lashed out at mothers who mollycoddle their sons … [TVNZ]
… we’ve become stifled and mollycoddled by “health and safety”. [Telegraph]
Yet he is mollycoddling Bosnia’s and Kosovo’s militant Serbian minorities who are undermining international peace efforts … [Toronto Star]
