soft-spoken
Americanadjective
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(of persons) speaking with a soft or gentle voice; mild.
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(of words) softly or mildly spoken; persuasive.
adjective
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speaking or said with a soft gentle voice
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able to persuade or impress by glibness of tongue
Etymology
Origin of soft-spoken
First recorded in 1600–10
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.
Periodically, the soft-spoken and generous man flies his Cessna into town to scavenge soda pop for a dozen or so cherubic Mennonite children on a nearby homestead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Friends remember a soft-spoken, humble man with a gift for explaining complex ideas in a simple way and who loved to share his work.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
They’re basically soft-spoken toxic boys who have convinced themselves that being gentle in delivery automatically makes them healthy communicators.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
A soft-spoken young man, Jesse Owens was the son of black Alabama sharecroppers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
In the days before Claudette’s trial, E. D. Nixon also called Rosa Parks, a soft-spoken, forty-two-year-old professional seamstress who had for many years been secretary of the Montgomery NAACP.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
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.
