soft focus

American  

noun

Photography.

1. an image, often created by a special lens, that is recognizable but somewhat blurred or diffused.

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Other Word Forms

• soft-focus adjective

Etymology

Origin of soft focus

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

She says her clients often describe brain fog as feeling like they are "living life in soft focus".

From BBC • Nov. 16, 2025

Popular ideas about preschool usually involve a soft focus on cuddly kids, not the stuff of tough public policy or hard numbers.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2023

“This play actually goes the other way and shows the three of them without a soft focus at all. I really think that we see three very flawed egomaniacs.”

From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2023

Looking back, it’s puzzling to think that Newton-John was seen as such a threat, particularly because her albums of the early and mid-1970s were captured in permanent soft focus.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 9, 2022

That is, one part of the picture is made with a soft focus lens and one with an anastigmatic.

From Pictorial Photography in America 1921 by Pictorial Photographers of America