soft

[ sawft, soft ]

/ sɔft, sɒft /

adjective, soft·er, soft·est.

yielding readily to touch or pressure; easily penetrated, divided, or changed in shape; not hard or stiff: a soft pillow.

relatively deficient in hardness, as metal or wood.

smooth and agreeable to the touch; not rough or coarse: a soft fabric; soft skin.

producing agreeable sensations; pleasant or comfortable: soft slumber.

low or subdued in sound; gentle and melodious: soft music; a soft voice.

not harsh or unpleasant to the eye; not glaring: soft light; a soft color.

not hard or sharp: soft outlines.

gentle or mild: soft breezes.

genial or balmy, as climate or air.

gentle, mild, warm-hearted, or compassionate: a soft, grandmotherly woman.

smooth, soothing, or ingratiating: soft words.

not harsh or severe, as a penalty or demand.

responsive or sympathetic to the feelings, emotions, needs, etc., of others; tender-hearted.

sentimental or flowery, as language: soft, meaningless talk.

not strong or robust; delicate; incapable of great endurance or exertion: He was too soft for the Marines.

Informal. easy; involving little effort; not difficult, laborious, trying, or severe: a soft job.

Informal. easily influenced or swayed; easily imposed upon; impressionable.

lenient, permissive, or conciliatory, especially regarding something that is conceived of as dangerous or threatening: to be soft on Communism.

(of water) relatively free from mineral salts that interfere with the action of soap.

(of paper money or a monetary system) not supported by sufficient gold reserves or not easily convertible into a foreign currency.

(of a market, market condition, or prices) declining in value, volume, profitability, etc.; weak: a soft tourist season.Compare firm¹(def 7).

(of money) plentiful or available at low interest rates or on easy terms: a soft loan.

soft-core.

Metallurgy.

(of a metal) easily magnetized and demagnetized.
(of solder) fusing readily.
(of a metal or alloy) fully annealed, so as to provide minimum mechanical hardness.

Photography.

(of a photographic image) having delicate gradations of tone.
(of a focus) lacking in sharpness.
(of a lens) unable to be focused sharply.

Phonetics.

(of consonants) lenis, especially lenis and voiced.
(of c and g) pronounced as in cent and gem.
(of consonants in Slavic languages) palatalized.Compare hard(def 38).

Military. (of a missile-launching base) aboveground and relatively unprotected from enemy attack.

Aerospace. (of a landing of a space vehicle) gentle; not harmful to the vehicle or its contents: a soft landing on the moon.

Physics. (of a beam of particles or electromagnetic radiation) having relatively low energy: soft x-rays.Compare hard(def 40).

(of a delegate, voter, etc.) not committed to any one candidate.

foolish or stupid: soft in the head.

(of a detergent) readily biodegradable.

noun

something that is soft or yielding; the soft part.

softness.

adverb

in a soft manner.

interjection Archaic.

be quiet! hush!

not so fast! stop!

QUIZZES

DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?

"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?

Question 1 of 10

decorum

the act of or need for making up one's mind.

dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.

a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms for soft

be soft on someone, Informal. to be amorously inclined toward a person; have an affection for: He's been soft on her for years.

Origin of soft

before 1000; Middle English softe yielding, gentle, mild, Old English sōfte agreeable; cognate with German sanft

SYNONYMS FOR soft

1 pliable, plastic, malleable.

5 mellifluous, dulcet, sweet.

10 tender, sympathetic.

11 mollifying.

15 weak, feeble.

17 compliant, irresolute, submissive.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR soft ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM soft

soft·ly, adverbsoft·ness, nouno·ver·soft, adjectiveo·ver·soft·ly, adverb

o·ver·soft·ness, nounsu·per·soft, adjectiveul·tra·soft, adjectiveul·tra·soft·ly, adverbul·tra·soft·ness, nounun·soft, adjectiveun·soft·ly, adverbun·soft·ness, noun

Words nearby soft

sofer, soffit, soffritto, sofia, sofrito, soft, soft armor, soft chancre, soft clam, soft coal, soft commodities

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for softly

“J.W. heard Hayden say softly, ‘You smell good,’” the papers report.
Rape, Lies & Videotape in Ferguson|Michael Daly|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Kimberlin, who looks and softly speaks like a miniaturized clone of David Strathairn, could not lay a glove on his tormenter.
The Weirdest Story About a Conservative Obsession, a Convicted Bomber, and Taylor Swift You Have Ever Read|David Weigel|August 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Boom,” my boyfriend whispered to me softly when he noticed me looking out the window.
How I Got Used to Gaza Rockets|Miranda Frum|July 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Silently, he moves to grab a kombo (a whisk broom instrument)—then, softly, he taps her shoulders and head.
Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction|Abby Haglage|May 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

And in the great new family, The family of the free, With softly spoken, kindly word Remember also me.
Ukrainians in U.S. Warn: ‘Mr. Putin, Heroes Do Not Die’|Michael Daly|April 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But now, softly whispering through ten thousand leaves, how gently the whole tree yields to the impression!
The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, January 1844|Various
Next came Silvio, in a softly upholstered cart drawn by two Peschiera boys.
Heimatlos|Johanna Spyri
The two weeks on the ocean came and went as softly as flowers unfold and disappear.
The Harris-Ingram Experiment|Charles E. Bolton
Trembling with excitement, I softly opened the gate and entered the grounds.
That Affair at Elizabeth|Burton E. Stevenson
“That seemed just right,” said Robinette softly as she came out into the sunshine again, a few minutes later.
Robinetta|Kate Douglas Wiggin

British Dictionary definitions for softly

soft

/ (sɒft) /

adjective

easy to dent, work, or cut without shattering; malleable

not hard; giving little or no resistance to pressure or weight

fine, light, smooth, or fluffy to the touch

gentle; tranquil

(of music, sounds, etc) low and pleasing

(of light, colour, etc) not excessively bright or harsh

(of a breeze, climate, etc) temperate, mild, or pleasant

dialect drizzly or rainya soft day; the weather has turned soft

slightly blurred; not sharply outlinedsoft focus

(of a diet) consisting of easily digestible foods

kind or lenient, often excessively so

easy to influence or impose upon

prepared to compromise; not doctrinairethe soft left

informal feeble or silly; simple (often in the phrase soft in the head)

unable to endure hardship, esp through too much pampering

physically out of condition; flabbysoft muscles

loving; tendersoft words

informal requiring little exertion; easya soft job

chem (of water) relatively free of mineral salts and therefore easily able to make soap lather

(of a drug such as cannabis) nonaddictive or only mildly addictiveCompare hard (def. 19)

(of news coverage) concentrating on trivial stories or those with human interest

phonetics

an older word for lenis
(not in technical usage) denoting the consonants c and g in English when they are pronounced as palatal or alveolar fricatives or affricates (s, / dʒ /, / ʃ /, / ð /, / tʃ /) before e and i, rather than as velar stops (k, g)
(in the Slavonic languages) palatalized before a front vowel or a special character (soft sign) written as Ь

unprotected against attacka soft target
military unarmoured, esp as applied to a truck by comparison with a tank

finance, mainly US (of prices, a market, etc) unstable and tending to decline

(of a currency) in relatively little demand, esp because of a weak balance of payments situation

(of radiation, such as X-rays and ultraviolet radiation) having low energy and not capable of deep penetration of materials

physics (of valves or tubes) only partially evacuated

related to the performance of non-specific, undefinable taskssoft skills such as customer services and office support

soft on or soft about

gentle, sympathetic, or lenient towards
feeling affection or infatuation for

adverb

in a soft mannerto speak soft

noun

a soft object, part, or piece

informal See softie

interjection archaic

quiet!

wait!

Derived forms of soft

softly, adverb

Word Origin for soft

Old English sōfte; related to Old Saxon sāfti, Old High German semfti gentle

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

Idioms and Phrases with softly

soft

In addition to the idioms beginning with soft

soften up
soft in the head
soft job
soft on
soft pedal
soft sell
soft soap
soft spot
soft touch

also see:

hard (soft) sell

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY

soft

adjective, soft·er, soft·est.

noun

adverb

interjection Archaic.

QUIZZES

DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?

Idioms for soft

Origin of soft

SYNONYMS FOR soft

OTHER WORDS FROM soft

Words nearby soft

Example sentences from the Web for softly

British Dictionary definitions for softly

adjective

adverb

noun

interjection archaic

Derived forms of soft

Word Origin for soft

Idioms and Phrases with softly

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY

soft

adjective, soft·er, soft·est.

noun

adverb

interjection Archaic.

QUIZZES

DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?

Idioms for soft

Origin of soft

SYNONYMS FOR soft

OTHER WORDS FROM soft

Words nearby soft

Words related to softly

Example sentences from the Web for softly

British Dictionary definitions for softly

adjective

adverb

noun

interjection archaic

Derived forms of soft

Word Origin for soft

Idioms and Phrases with softly