softhearted
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
If you're softhearted, you're extremely caring and considerate—maybe even a little too much. Softhearted people generally make better kindergarten teachers than professional boxers. A softhearted car salesperson might give a discount to a buyer who doesn't have much money, and a softhearted teacher may give you an extra day to finish your project if you're feeling overworked in your other classes. The opposite of softhearted is hardhearted or heartless. A hardhearted person might walk right past a lost, crying child, while a softhearted person will probably stop and try to help.
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.
Softhearted rather than sultry, love like theirs takes its time to mature and become comfortable with both each other’s gifts and shortcomings.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2023
Typical was the plight of Softhearted John, the shark-mouthed grocer, whose goods no one would buy as long as they could have shmoos instead.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
