soft soap
Informal. persuasive talk; flattery: to use soft soap to get one's way.
the semifluid soap produced when potassium hydroxide is used in the saponification of a fat or an oil.
Origin of soft soap
1Words Nearby soft soap
Other definitions for soft-soap (2 of 2)
Informal. to cajole; flatter.
to apply soft soap to.
to use soft soap in washing.
Origin of soft-soap
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use soft soap in a sentence
Or pour down the throat a pint bottle full of soft soap, mixed with sufficient hot water to make it run freely.
Domestic Animals | Richard L. AllenYou don't need to soft soap me, Senator; save that for your office seekers.
Hidden Gold | Wilder AnthonyIf the trees be already attacked, adding soft soap and sulphur to the water will destroy them.
Heat six gallons of water and put in three and a half pounds of soft soap and a half gallon of clean refuse oil.
Practical Mechanics for Boys | J. S. ZerbeHe describes his progress through it as like travelling through soft soap.
The Kentucky Warbler | James Lane Allen
British Dictionary definitions for soft soap
med another name for green soap
informal flattering, persuasive, or cajoling talk
informal to use such talk on (a person)
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
Cultural definitions for soft soap
Flattery: “Mary asked the boss to stop giving her a lot of soft soap about her performance and to start leveling with her like any other employee.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with soft soap
Flattery, cajolery, as in She's only six but she's learned how to get her way with soft soap. This colloquial expression alludes to liquid soap, likening its slippery quality to insincere flattery. Its figurative use was first recorded in 1830.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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