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soft power

British  

noun

  1. the ability to achieve one's goals without force, esp by diplomacy, persuasion, etc Compare hard power

"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

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.

She might have mentioned Hollywood or Broadway, two wellsprings of U.S. cultural soft power.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

BTS, which has addressed the UN and been invited to the White House, has become the face of South Korea's soft power.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026

America has to find a way to restart diplomacy, using soft power and persuasion more often than the blunt force of tariffs or threat of conflict with key partners.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 10, 2026

Arino said Tehran's attacks and the impact on air travel dealt a blow to the "soft power" of the Gulf monarchies.

From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026

With my soft power, I was finding I could be strong.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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.