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.
