soft option

British

noun

in a number of choices, the one considered to be easy or the easiest to do, involving the least difficulty or exertion

"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.

“The verdict of manslaughter therefore is not a soft option and doesn’t amount to saying that what he didn’t wasn’t all that bad, or that he deserves sympathy and understanding,” Owen implored the jury.

From Time • Nov. 4, 2016

Mr Grayling is wrong to label cautions a soft option, argues John Graham of the Police Foundation, a think tank.

From Economist • Nov. 6, 2014

He was never afraid to take risks with his work and he was dismissive of those who went for the soft option.

From BBC • Dec. 15, 2013

"Some people might say it's the soft option, but people make mistakes and if we can help them that's surely a good thing."

From The Guardian • Apr. 16, 2010

Shadowing Farrell is a soft option, even now, when he's painfully learning the rudiments of flight: four months ago he had not even a nascent terror to make him suspicious.

From Foe-Farrell by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

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