soft

[sawft, soft]

adjective

softer, softest 

1. yielding readily to touch or pressure; easily penetrated, divided, or changed in shape; not hard or stiff.

   a soft pillow.

   Synonyms: malleable, plastic, pliable

2. relatively deficient in hardness, as metal or wood.

3. smooth and agreeable to the touch; not rough or coarse.

   a soft fabric;

   soft skin.

4. producing agreeable sensations; pleasant or comfortable.

   soft slumber.

5. low or subdued in sound; gentle and melodious.

   soft music;

   a soft voice.

   Synonyms: sweet, dulcet, mellifluous

6. not harsh or unpleasant to the eye; not glaring.

   soft light;

   a soft color.

7. not hard or sharp.

   soft outlines.

8. gentle or mild.

   soft breezes.

9. genial or balmy, as climate or air.

10. gentle, mild, warm-hearted, or compassionate.

    a soft, grandmotherly woman.

    Synonyms: sympathetic, tender

11. smooth, soothing, or ingratiating.

    soft words.

12. not harsh or severe, as a penalty or demand.

13. responsive or sympathetic to the feelings, emotions, needs, etc., of others; tender-hearted.

14. sentimental or flowery, as language.

    soft, meaningless talk.

15. not strong or robust; delicate; incapable of great endurance or exertion.

    He was too soft for the Marines.

    Synonyms: feeble, weak

16. Informal.,  easy; involving little effort; not difficult, laborious, trying, or severe.

    a soft job.

17. Informal.,  easily influenced or swayed; easily imposed upon; impressionable.

    Synonyms: submissive, irresolute, compliant

18. lenient, permissive, or conciliatory, especially regarding something that is conceived of as dangerous or threatening.

    to be soft on Communism.

19. (of water) relatively free from mineral salts that interfere with the action of soap.

20. (of paper money or a monetary system) not supported by sufficient gold reserves or not easily convertible into a foreign currency.

21. (of a market, market condition, or prices) declining in value, volume, profitability, etc.; weak.

    a soft tourist season.

22. (of money) plentiful or available at low interest rates or on easy terms.

    a soft loan.

23. soft-core.

24. Metallurgy.

    1. (of a metal) easily magnetized and demagnetized.

    2. (of solder) fusing readily.

    3. (of a metal or alloy) fully annealed, so as to provide minimum mechanical hardness.

25. Photography.

    1. (of a photographic image) having delicate gradations of tone.

    2. (of a focus) lacking in sharpness.

    3. (of a lens) unable to be focused sharply.

26. Phonetics.

    1. (of consonants) lenis, especially lenis and voiced.

    2. (of c andg ) pronounced as in cent and gem.

    3. (of consonants in Slavic languages) palatalized.

27. Military.,  (of a missile-launching base) aboveground and relatively unprotected from enemy attack.

28. Aerospace.,  (of a landing of a space vehicle) gentle; not harmful to the vehicle or its contents.

    a soft landing on the moon.

29. Physics.,  (of a beam of particles orelectromagnetic radiation ) having relatively low energy.

    soft x-rays.

30. (of a delegate, voter, etc.) not committed to any one candidate.

31. Informal.,  foolish or stupid.

    soft in the head.

32. (of a detergent) readily biodegradable.

33. Baseball.,  lacking power or speed.

    a soft infield hit; a soft breaking pitch.

noun

1. something that is soft or yielding; the soft part.

2. softness.

adverb

1. in a soft manner.

interjection

Archaic.

1. be quiet! hush!

2. not so fast! stop!

soft

/ sɒft /

adjective

1. easy to dent, work, or cut without shattering; malleable

2. not hard; giving little or no resistance to pressure or weight

3. fine, light, smooth, or fluffy to the touch

4. gentle; tranquil

5. (of music, sounds, etc) low and pleasing

6. (of light, colour, etc) not excessively bright or harsh

7. (of a breeze, climate, etc) temperate, mild, or pleasant

8. dialect,  drizzly or rainy

   a soft day

   the weather has turned soft

9. slightly blurred; not sharply outlined

   soft focus

10. (of a diet) consisting of easily digestible foods

11. kind or lenient, often excessively so

12. easy to influence or impose upon

13. prepared to compromise; not doctrinaire

    the soft left

14. informal,  feeble or silly; simple (often in the phrase soft in the head )

15. unable to endure hardship, esp through too much pampering

16. physically out of condition; flabby

    soft muscles

17. loving; tender

    soft words

18. informal,  requiring little exertion; easy

    a soft job

19. chem (of water) relatively free of mineral salts and therefore easily able to make soap lather

20. (of a drug such as cannabis) nonaddictive or only mildly addictive Compare hard

21. (of news coverage) concentrating on trivial stories or those with human interest

22. phonetics

    1. an older word for lenis

    2. (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)

    3. (in the Slavonic languages) palatalized before a front vowel or a special character ( soft sign ) written as

23. 1. unprotected against attack

       a soft target

    2. military unarmoured, esp as applied to a truck by comparison with a tank

24. finance (of prices, a market, etc) unstable and tending to decline

25. (of a currency) in relatively little demand, esp because of a weak balance of payments situation

26. (of radiation, such as X-rays and ultraviolet radiation) having low energy and not capable of deep penetration of materials

27. physics (of valves or tubes) only partially evacuated

28. related to the performance of non-specific, undefinable tasks

    soft skills such as customer services and office support

29. 1. gentle, sympathetic, or lenient towards

    2. feeling affection or infatuation for

adverb

1. in a soft manner

   to speak soft

noun

1. a soft object, part, or piece

2. informal,  See softie

interjection

1. quiet!

2. wait!

Other Word Forms

• softly adverb
• softness noun
• oversoft adjective
• supersoft adjective
• ultrasoft adjective
• unsoft adjective
• unsoftly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of soft¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English softe “yielding, gentle, mild,” Old English sōfte “agreeable, comfortable”; cognate with German sanft

Word History and Origins

Origin of soft¹

Old English sōfte; related to Old Saxon sāfti, Old High German semfti gentle

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. be soft on someone, to be amorously inclined toward a person; have an affection for.

   He's been soft on her for years.

More idioms and phrases containing soft

• hard (soft) sell

Example Sentences

"I only sell on the street when I can get enough money to buy the soft drinks," the street vendor said.

From BBC

State visits are a form of soft power diplomacy, using the royal charm offensive to build relations with important international partners - with none more important than the US.

From BBC

“Too soft, too stately,” a critic friend grumbled at Telluride.

From Los Angeles Times

Caulfield is a Brexit supporter and quit her role as Tory vice chair in protest at Theresa May's 2018 attempt at a softer withdrawal from the EU, known as the Chequers deal.

From BBC

For afternoon kickoffs, a soft pretzel tray with mustard or cinnamon dip goes a long way.

From Salon

Related Words

• comfortable 
• comfy 
• creamy 
• delicate 
• easy 
• elastic 
• flexible 
• fluffy 
• mushy 
• plastic 
• pliable 
• rounded 
• silky 
• smooth 
• spongy 
• supple 
• thin 
• velvety