soft-soap

[sawft-sohp, soft-]

See more synonyms for soft-soap on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

Informal. to cajole; flatter.
to apply soft soap to.

verb (used without object)

to use soft soap in washing.

Origin of soft-soap

First recorded in 1820–30

soft soap

noun

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

First recorded in 1625–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for soft-soap

urge, activate, prompt, coax, engender, breed, promote, motivate, produce, persuade, convince, cause, generate, mislead, misrepresent, deceive, request, push, solicit, press

Examples from the Web for soft-soap

Historical Examples of soft-soap

And takes by the nose and belathers, with soft-soap, tremendously.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105 December 16, 1893
Various
Now hes trying to soft-soap the hermit into letting him have a hunt for it.
Tom Fairfield in Camp
Allen Chapman
Do you think you can soft-soap me as easy as you did the boys?
Friar Tuck
Robert Alexander Wason
After all, soft-soap has its virtues; it is just the thing for the aged!
The Champagne Standard
Mrs. John Lane
We clamour for soft-soap; we demand it at the point of the bayonet.
The Champagne Standard
Mrs. John Lane

British Dictionary definitions for soft-soap

soft soap

noun

med another name for green soap
informal flattering, persuasive, or cajoling talk

verb soft-soap

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

Word Origin and History for soft-soap

1630s, from soft (adj.) + soap (n.). Figurative sense "flattery" is recorded from 1830.

soft-soap in Culture

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.”

Idioms and Phrases with soft-soap

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.