soft landing
Americannoun
noun
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a landing by a spacecraft on the moon or a planet at a sufficiently low velocity for the equipment or occupants to remain unharmed
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a decrease in demand that does not result in a country's economy falling into recession
Etymology
Origin of soft landing
First recorded in 1960–65
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.
Most managers expect a soft landing, favoring consumer stocks, bonds, and REITs, while oil and semiconductors are seen as crowded trades.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
Odysseus was the first privately funded lander to make a soft landing on the lunar surface.
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
It’s a soft landing for his fall from grace.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
The economy may have stuck the soft landing, but nobody wants to jinx it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
“It’s okay!” he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, “it’s a soft landing, you can jump!”
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
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.
