softy

or soft·ie

[sawf-tee, sof-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR softy ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Related Words for softy

wimp, whiner, sissy, critic, complainer, softy, wuss, faultfinder, liberal, sympathizer, milquetoast, baby, crybaby, lightweight, mollycoddle, namby-pamby, pansy, chicken, weakling

Examples from the Web for softy

Historical Examples of softy

The heap of money made a deep impression in the softy downy bed.
The Fat and the Thin
Emile Zola
He was rich and kind, or rather as she told me "he was a softy."
Women's Wild Oats
C. Gasquoine Hartley
The man who saw things neither was a softy, and no proper citizen.
The Patrician
John Galsworthy
“Not so sure of that, if Softy had charge of them,” said Tom.
Paddy Finn
W. H. G. Kingston
"It's not us as 'ud make a softy of him," she said indignantly.
Sons and Lovers
David Herbert Lawrence

Word Origin and History for 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.