soft
Americanadjective
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softer,
comparative
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softest
superlative
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yielding readily to touch or pressure; easily penetrated, divided, or changed in shape; not hard or stiff.
a soft pillow.
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relatively deficient in hardness, as metal or wood.
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smooth and agreeable to the touch; not rough or coarse.
a soft fabric;
soft skin.
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producing agreeable sensations; pleasant or comfortable.
soft slumber.
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low or subdued in sound; gentle and melodious.
soft music;
a soft voice.
- Synonyms:
- sweet, dulcet, mellifluous
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not harsh or unpleasant to the eye; not glaring.
soft light;
a soft color.
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not hard or sharp.
soft outlines.
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gentle or mild.
soft breezes.
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genial or balmy, as climate or air.
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gentle, mild, warm-hearted, or compassionate.
a soft, grandmotherly woman.
- Synonyms:
- sympathetic, tender
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smooth, soothing, or ingratiating.
soft words.
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not harsh or severe, as a penalty or demand.
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responsive or sympathetic to the feelings, emotions, needs, etc., of others; tender-hearted.
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sentimental or flowery, as language.
soft, meaningless talk.
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not strong or robust; delicate; incapable of great endurance or exertion.
He was too soft for the Marines.
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Informal. easy; involving little effort; not difficult, laborious, trying, or severe.
a soft job.
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Informal. easily influenced or swayed; easily imposed upon; impressionable.
- Synonyms:
- submissive, irresolute, compliant
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lenient, permissive, or conciliatory, especially regarding something that is conceived of as dangerous or threatening.
to be soft on Communism.
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(of water) relatively free from mineral salts that interfere with the action of soap.
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(of paper money or a monetary system) not supported by sufficient gold reserves or not easily convertible into a foreign currency.
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(of a market, market condition, or prices) declining in value, volume, profitability, etc.; weak.
a soft tourist season.
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(of money) plentiful or available at low interest rates or on easy terms.
a soft loan.
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Metallurgy.
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(of a metal) easily magnetized and demagnetized.
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(of solder) fusing readily.
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(of a metal or alloy) fully annealed, so as to provide minimum mechanical hardness.
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Photography.
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(of a photographic image) having delicate gradations of tone.
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(of a focus) lacking in sharpness.
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(of a lens) unable to be focused sharply.
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Phonetics.
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(of consonants) lenis, especially lenis and voiced.
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(of c andg ) pronounced as in cent and gem.
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(of consonants in Slavic languages) palatalized.
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Military. (of a missile-launching base) aboveground and relatively unprotected from enemy attack.
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Aerospace. (of a landing of a space vehicle) gentle; not harmful to the vehicle or its contents.
a soft landing on the moon.
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Physics. (of a beam of particles orelectromagnetic radiation ) having relatively low energy.
soft x-rays.
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(of a delegate, voter, etc.) not committed to any one candidate.
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Informal. foolish or stupid.
soft in the head.
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(of a detergent) readily biodegradable.
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Baseball. lacking power or speed.
a soft infield hit; a soft breaking pitch.
noun
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something that is soft or yielding; the soft part.
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softness.
adverb
interjection
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be quiet! hush!
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not so fast! stop!
idioms
adjective
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easy to dent, work, or cut without shattering; malleable
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not hard; giving little or no resistance to pressure or weight
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fine, light, smooth, or fluffy to the touch
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gentle; tranquil
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(of music, sounds, etc) low and pleasing
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(of light, colour, etc) not excessively bright or harsh
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(of a breeze, climate, etc) temperate, mild, or pleasant
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dialect drizzly or rainy
a soft day
the weather has turned soft
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slightly blurred; not sharply outlined
soft focus
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(of a diet) consisting of easily digestible foods
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kind or lenient, often excessively so
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easy to influence or impose upon
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prepared to compromise; not doctrinaire
the soft left
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informal feeble or silly; simple (often in the phrase soft in the head )
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unable to endure hardship, esp through too much pampering
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physically out of condition; flabby
soft muscles
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loving; tender
soft words
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informal requiring little exertion; easy
a soft job
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chem (of water) relatively free of mineral salts and therefore easily able to make soap lather
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(of a drug such as cannabis) nonaddictive or only mildly addictive Compare hard
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(of news coverage) concentrating on trivial stories or those with human interest
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phonetics
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an older word for lenis
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(not in technical usage) denoting the consonants c and g in English when they are pronounced as palatal or alveolar fricatives or affricates (s, / dʒ /, / ʃ /, / ð /, / tʃ /) before e and i, rather than as velar stops (k, g)
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(in the Slavonic languages) palatalized before a front vowel or a special character ( soft sign ) written as
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unprotected against attack
a soft target
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military unarmoured, esp as applied to a truck by comparison with a tank
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finance (of prices, a market, etc) unstable and tending to decline
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(of a currency) in relatively little demand, esp because of a weak balance of payments situation
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(of radiation, such as X-rays and ultraviolet radiation) having low energy and not capable of deep penetration of materials
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physics (of valves or tubes) only partially evacuated
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related to the performance of non-specific, undefinable tasks
soft skills such as customer services and office support
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gentle, sympathetic, or lenient towards
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feeling affection or infatuation for
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adverb
noun
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a soft object, part, or piece
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informal See softie
interjection
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quiet!
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wait!
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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softnessnoun
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oversoftadjective
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supersoftadjective
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ultrasoftadjective
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unsoftadjective
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softlyadverb
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unsoftlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of soft
First recorded before 1000; Middle English softe “yielding, gentle, mild,” Old English sōfte “agreeable, comfortable”; cognate with German sanft
Explanation
Soft things are fluffy or yielding to the touch. A kitten's fur and your favorite fleece pajama pants are soft. So is spreadable cheese or the spongy ground of a wet field. A soft voice is gentle, and a soft light or color is subdued or muted. A table with soft edges is rounded instead of sharp-cornered. Soft rain is mild. No matter how the adjective soft is used, it's always the opposite of words like hard, loud, bright or stubborn. It comes from a Germanic root that means "level, even, smooth, or gentle."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And while the U.S. currently has low unemployment, soft job generation with few new hires isn’t rocket fuel for wages.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
The announcements came a day after Google parent Alphabet reported soft growth in revenue from advertising and its search business, while saying it would ramp up capital expenditure.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
“There’s no doubt that soft drinks have grown to become quite a significant part of our overall portfolio,” Chief Executive Jacob Aarup-Andersen said in an interview.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
"That is just absolutely soft from David Bedingham," said former South Africa bowler Vernon Philander.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Caesar’s words are so soft, I almost mistake them for a breeze.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Gold prices extended gains, supported by a softer dollar and falling Treasury yields after the U.S. midterm election results.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
Reflecting this softer and more mainstream meaning, British Vogue captioned their photo of Heated Rivalry actor Hudson Williams arriving at the 2026 Golden Globes as him "mogging at the Golden Globes".
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
The researchers suggest that other members of the group may have helped Shanidar A survive by providing softer foods.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
Nasdaq-100 futures are down about 1% in premarket trades, and the S&P 500 looks softer, while Dow futures are edging higher.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
They were almost in despair before at last they came to a little muddiness and a tiny trickle of water through softer and better grass.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
Japan survey data was less upbeat, with September’s composite indicator of manufacturing performance turning in the softest pace of growth in six months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Prices for new and used vehicles contributed to the softest rise in passenger-vehicle costs since March of last year, and internet-access services fell for the month after a modest rise in prices in May.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Whatever these men think they’re proving, what they are actually demonstrating is they are the softest, saddest boys alive, incapable of understanding what real courage looks like.
From Salon ● Jan. 9, 2026
It's only one lap, so it should stand to reason that the softest rubber will give the greatest grip for that short distance.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2025
He and Liyana sat behind a bush next to their house in the thinnest, softest grass watching customers travel up the sidewalk.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
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