soft

smooth and agreeable to the touch; not rough or coarse: a soft fabric; soft skin.

producing agreeable sensations; pleasant or comfortable: soft slumber.

low or subdued in sound; gentle and melodious: soft music;a soft voice.

not harsh or unpleasant to the eye; not glaring: soft light;a soft color.

not hard or sharp: soft outlines.

gentle or mild: soft breezes.

genial or balmy, as climate or air.

gentle, mild, warm-hearted, or compassionate: a soft, grandmotherly woman.

smooth, soothing, or ingratiating: soft words.

not harsh or severe, as a penalty or demand.

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

sentimental or flowery, as language: soft, meaningless talk.

not strong or robust; delicate; incapable of great endurance or exertion: He was too soft for the Marines.

Informal. easy; involving little effort; not difficult, laborious, trying, or severe: a soft job.

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

lenient, permissive, or conciliatory, especially regarding something that is conceived of as dangerous or threatening: to be soft on Communism.

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

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

(of a market, market condition, or prices) declining in value, volume, profitability, etc.; weak: a soft tourist season.: Compare firm¹ (def. 7).

(of money) plentiful or available at low interest rates or on easy terms: a soft loan.

soft-core.

Metallurgy.

Photography.

Phonetics.

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

Aerospace. (of a landing of a space vehicle) gentle; not harmful to the vehicle or its contents: a soft landing on the moon.

Physics. (of a beam of particles or electromagnetic radiation) having relatively low energy: soft x-rays.: Compare hard (def. 40).

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

Informal. foolish or stupid: soft in the head.

(of a detergent) readily biodegradable.

Baseball. lacking power or speed: a soft infield hit; a soft breaking pitch.

fine, light, smooth, or fluffy to the touch

gentle; tranquil

(of music, sounds, etc) low and pleasing

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

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

dialect drizzly or rainy: a soft day; the weather has turned soft

slightly blurred; not sharply outlined: soft focus

(of a diet) consisting of easily digestible foods

kind or lenient, often excessively so

easy to influence or impose upon

prepared to compromise; not doctrinaire: the soft left

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

unable to endure hardship, esp through too much pampering

physically out of condition; flabby: soft muscles

loving; tender: soft words

informal requiring little exertion; easy: a soft job

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

(of a drug such as cannabis) nonaddictive or only mildly addictive: Compare hard (def. 19)

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

phonetics

finance, mainly US (of prices, a market, etc) unstable and tending to decline

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

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

physics (of valves or tubes) only partially evacuated

related to the performance of non-specific, undefinable tasks: soft skills such as customer services and office support

soft on or soft about