softie

[sawf-tee, sof-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR softie ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

softy.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

softy

or soft·ie

[sawf-tee, sof-]

noun, plural soft·ies. Informal.

a person easily stirred to sentiment or tender emotion.

a person who lacks stamina or endurance.

a person who lacks strength of character; a silly or foolish person.

Origin of softy

First recorded in 1860–65; soft + -y²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for softie

It made him sound like a softie, he said, a mischaracterization that he wanted to correct.
A Former Ambassador to Pakistan Speaks Out|Tara McKelvey|November 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
After that we dropped the 'Softie,' and re-named him 'Amen-who-shied-that-boot?'
Cornish Saints and Sinners|J. Henry Harris
"You know well enough that Merriwell is no softie," returned Harry, rather warmly.
Frank Merriwell at Yale|Burt L. Standish
He is a kind of softie—all alive on one side of his brain, and a noodle on the other.
Robert Elsmere|Mrs. Humphry Ward

British Dictionary definitions for softie

softie

softy

noun plural softies

informal a person who is sentimental, weakly foolish, or lacking in physical endurance

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 softie

softy

also softie, 1863, "silly person," from soft (adj.) + -y (3). Meaning "soft-hearted person" is from 1886; that of "weak, unmanly or effeminate man" is from 1895. The Mister Softee soft ice-cream operation began in Philadelphia, U.S., in 1956.