soapy

American  

[soh-pee] / ˈsoʊ pi /

adjective

soapier, soapiest

1. containing or impregnated with soap.

   soapy water.

2. covered with soap or lather.

   soapy dishes.

3. of the nature of soap; resembling soap.

   a soft, soapy fiber.

4. pertaining to or characteristic of soap.

   a clean, soapy smell.

5. Informal. characteristic or reminiscent of a soap opera; melodramatic; corny.

   a soapy plot.

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soapy British  

/ ˈsəʊpɪ /

adjective

1. containing or covered with soap

   soapy water

2. resembling or characteristic of soap

3. slang flattering or persuasive

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noun

1. a variant of soapie

Other Word Forms

• soapiness
  noun
• soapily
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of soapy

First recorded in 1600–10; soap + -y ¹

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Explanation

Things that have soap in (or on) them are soapy, and things that resemble soap because they're frothy or foamy are also soapy. Your cat won't be happy if you pet him with your soapy hands, and you won't be happy if your hot chocolate tastes vaguely soapy. Another way to use this adjective is to mean "overly flattering and fake." The soapy compliment you give your teacher will be just as distasteful to your classmates as that soapy hot chocolate was to you.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

soapy soapier soapiest

Talc is a natural mineral made of magnesium, silicon, oxygen and hydrogen, known for its soapy feel and is often used in baby powder.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

First, a soapy sponge—nothing fancy, just one of the cheap ones, sudsed up with a dish soap that smells good.

From Salon ● May 5, 2026

The arrival of the soapy “Scream 7” is a rare example of a 1990s cultural artifact that has survived, though its pulse is weakening.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

“The Pitt” is already one of the best shows in TV, “Industry” is soapy fun and “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” looks intriguing.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025

She’d told me the ring was a little big and kept slipping off when her hands were in the soapy wash water.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

It has seemed soapier than it did in the first place, and even then it sure was soapy.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 17, 2019

For black professional women like Mary Jane, however, those other considerations make that quest an ever-more challenging undertaking, a truth the series excels at examining even as it traffics in soapier elements.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2019

Add in the acrimonies and resentments among his adult children and you’ve basically got a “Dallas” in the making, but the series shuns some of its soapier tendencies for deadly serious authenticity.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 14, 2018

“The Night Of …” was written by Richard Price and Steven Zaillian, though, and Mr. Moffat’s own work, including “Criminal Justice” and the legal drama “Silk,” is slicker and soapier.

From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2017

Frost leaned more heavily into the soapier and kookier elements of the series.

From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2017

As a result, X-Men became, as Howe put it, “the soapiest soap saga ever put forth by the House of Ideas, filled with agonized romances, self-confidence crises, lectures on morality, psychic scars, and worrying.”

From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2019

Jane the Virgin is a telenovela that, along with the soapiest of plot shenanigans, has taken on joy, loss, immigration, and breast-feeding.

From Slate ● Jul. 5, 2018

Yet despite all that, a hostile takeover attempt, and Lucious’s getting sent to jail in the final moments, the soapiest moment was both a throwback and a nod to present-day.

From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2015

Even the soapiest element of the pilot—Rayna and Juliette's "feud"—is very understated.

From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2013

That, to be sure, was nothing spectacular for the script of All My Children, one of television's soapiest midday dramas.

From Time Magazine Archive

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