soft
yielding readily to touch or pressure; easily penetrated, divided, or changed in shape; not hard or stiff: a soft pillow.
relatively deficient in hardness, as metal or wood.
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.
Metallurgy.
(of a metal) easily magnetized and demagnetized.
(of solder) fusing readily.
(of a metal or alloy) fully annealed, so as to provide minimum mechanical hardness.
Photography.
(of a photographic image) having delicate gradations of tone.
(of a focus) lacking in sharpness.
(of a lens) unable to be focused sharply.
Phonetics.
(of consonants) lenis, especially lenis and voiced.
(of c and g) pronounced as in cent and gem.
(of consonants in Slavic languages) palatalized.: Compare hard (def. 38).
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.
something that is soft or yielding; the soft part.
softness.
in a soft manner.
be quiet! hush!
not so fast! stop!
Idioms about soft
be soft on someone, Informal. to be amorously inclined toward a person; have an affection for: He's been soft on her for years.
Origin of soft
1Other words for soft
1 | pliable, plastic, malleable |
5 | mellifluous, dulcet, sweet |
10 | tender, sympathetic |
11 | mollifying |
15 | weak, feeble |
17 | compliant, irresolute, submissive |
Other words from soft
- soft·ly, adverb
- soft·ness, noun
- o·ver·soft, adjective
- su·per·soft, adjective
- ul·tra·soft, adjective
- un·soft, adjective
- un·soft·ly, adverb
Words Nearby soft
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use soft in a sentence
They are also odor-resistant and get increasingly softer over time.
Best weighted blanket: Sleep like a baby with our comfy bedding picks | PopSci Commerce Team | February 12, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThe artist can’t turn lead into gold, but making the hard gray substance appear soft and lacy is almost as impressive.
In the galleries: Rejuvenating the obsolete into unconventional art | Mark Jenkins | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostThe center will still be quite soft and slightly dipped, but the sides will be set.
If loving a piping hot chocolate lava cake is wrong, I don’t want to be right | Becky Krystal | February 4, 2021 | Washington PostTough leather palms make them perfect for cold-weather tasks at home or digging your car out of a snowbank, while a thin construction with touchscreen functionality, articulated fingers, and a breathable soft-shell back mean it can work as a liner.
My Favorite Winter Gloves for Various Activities | Jakob Schiller | February 3, 2021 | Outside OnlineGiving up alcohol and coffee was easier than sticking to my soft diet, in fact, because I kept trying to force every meal into a “healthy” form.
There were stomachs, taut and flat, but also undulating bellies, soft and bloated from the breakfast buffet.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’ | Asawin Suebsaeng | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTFrancis is well into his seventies, looks it, has a mild demeanor and soft speaking style; but his rhetoric is electrifying.
My surgeon told me my bones were so soft he could barely install the screws.
Of course, with such a soft-handed approach comes criticism from the Danish right.
What the U.S. Can Learn from Europe About Dealing with Terrorists | Scott Beauchamp | December 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd Christopher Walken warbling and doing a little soft-shoe?
‘Peter Pan Live!’ Review: No Amount of Clapping Brings It to Life | Kevin Fallon | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd once more, she found herself desiring to be like Janet--not only in appearance, but in soft manner and tone.
Hilda Lessways | Arnold BennettA few small rocks of some soft stone may be added, and in between these the Ferns are planted.
How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard BastinHis face flushed with annoyance, and taking off his soft hat he began to beat it impatiently against his leg as he walked.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinThe delicious soft rains set in early, promising a good grain year.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonNot a zephyr ruffled the leaf of a rose, and a soft breathing fragrance bathed his reposing senses.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane Porter
British Dictionary definitions for soft
/ (sɒft) /
easy to dent, work, or cut without shattering; malleable
not hard; giving little or no resistance to pressure or weight
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
an older word for lenis
(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)
(in the Slavonic languages) palatalized before a front vowel or a special character (soft sign) written as Ь
unprotected against attack: a soft target
military unarmoured, esp as applied to a truck by comparison with a tank
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
gentle, sympathetic, or lenient towards
feeling affection or infatuation for
in a soft manner: to speak soft
a soft object, part, or piece
informal See softie
quiet!
wait!
Origin of soft
1Derived forms of soft
- softly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with soft
In addition to the idioms beginning with soft
- soften up
- soft in the head
- soft job
- soft on
- soft pedal
- soft sell
- soft soap
- soft spot
- soft touch
also see:
- hard (soft) sell
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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