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soft
[sawft, soft]
adjective
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.
Synonyms: sympathetic, tendersmooth, 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.
(of money) plentiful or available at low interest rates or on easy terms.
a soft loan.
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 andg ) pronounced as in cent and gem.
(of consonants in Slavic languages) palatalized.
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 orelectromagnetic radiation ) having relatively low energy.
soft x-rays.
(of a delegate, voter, etc.) not committed to any one candidate.
Informal., foolish or stupid.
soft in the head.
(of a detergent) readily biodegradable.
Baseball., lacking power or speed.
a soft infield hit; a soft breaking pitch.
noun
something that is soft or yielding; the soft part.
softness.
adverb
in a soft manner.
interjection
be quiet! hush!
not so fast! stop!
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 rainy
a soft day
the weather has turned soft
slightly blurred; not sharply outlined
soft 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 doctrinaire
the 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; flabby
soft muscles
loving; tender
soft words
informal, requiring little exertion; easy
a 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 addictive Compare hard
(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
unprotected against attack
a soft target
military unarmoured, esp as applied to a truck by comparison with a tank
finance (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 tasks
soft skills such as customer services and office support
gentle, sympathetic, or lenient towards
feeling affection or infatuation for
adverb
in a soft manner
to speak soft
noun
a soft object, part, or piece
informal, See softie
interjection
quiet!
wait!
Other Word Forms
- softly adverb
- softness noun
- oversoft adjective
- supersoft adjective
- ultrasoft adjective
- unsoft adjective
- unsoftly adverb
Word History and Origins
Origin of soft1
Word History and Origins
Origin of soft1
Idioms and Phrases
be soft on someone, to be amorously inclined toward a person; have an affection for.
He's been soft on her for years.
More idioms and phrases containing soft
- hard (soft) sell
Example Sentences
A tender city romance about about gentrification and Black melancholy, “Love, Brooklyn” brings together appealing actors and the charms of New York’s ever-changing borough into soft focus.
Leclerc's fastest time was his third attempt to do a lap on the soft tyres after aborting his first two runs.
She had blue eyes and a soft voice, and as I would learn later, an impish wit.
The money is awarded as either gap financing or soft loans, which have little or no interest.
"However, softer earnings growth, higher inflation, tighter fiscal policy, and the lagged impact of past interest rate rises for some mortgagors point to much weaker real income growth moving forward."
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from 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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