soft skills

British

plural noun

desirable qualities for certain forms of employment that do not depend on acquired knowledge: they include common sense, the ability to deal with people, and a positive flexible attitude

"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.

That means workers in roles that typically require a lot of hard skills will need to buff up on soft skills.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

High-performing companies hire a lot of people out of college, expose them to multiple roles and teach soft skills.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

To develop these types of hard and soft skills, you don't necessarily have to get a new degree.

From Salon • Jan. 12, 2025

“The soft skills are sometimes understated in cyber-security,” he says.

From BBC • Oct. 7, 2024

“I don’t think so. You need to work on some of your soft skills before I send you off to MIT. You need to be around your peers. Now, come on.”

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023