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.
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!
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
11 mollifying.
OTHER WORDS FROM soft
soft·ly, adverb
soft·ness, noun
o·ver·soft, adjective
o·ver·soft·ly, adverb
o·ver·soft·ness, noun
su·per·soft, adjective
ul·tra·soft, adjective
ul·tra·soft·ly, adverb
ul·tra·soft·ness, noun
un·soft, adjective
un·soft·ly, adverb
un·soft·ness, noun
Words nearby soft
sofer,
soffit,
soffritto,
sofia,
sofrito,
soft,
soft armor,
soft chancre,
soft clam,
soft coal,
soft commodities
Example sentences from the Web for softly
“J.W. heard Hayden say softly, ‘You smell good,’” the papers report.
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.
Silently, he moves to grab a kombo (a whisk broom instrument)—then, softly, he taps her shoulders and head.
And in the great new family, The family of the free, With softly spoken, kindly word Remember also me.
But now, softly whispering through ten thousand leaves, how gently the whole tree yields to the impression!
Next came Silvio, in a softly upholstered cart drawn by two Peschiera boys.
Heimatlos |Johanna SpyriThe two weeks on the ocean came and went as softly as flowers unfold and disappear.
The Harris-Ingram Experiment |Charles E. BoltonTrembling 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 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 (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 tasks
soft 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 manner
to speak soft
noun
a soft object, part, or piece
informal See softie
interjection archaic
quiet!
wait!
Derived forms of soft
softly, adverbWord Origin for soft
Old English
sōfte; related to Old Saxon
sāfti, Old High German
semfti gentle
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