soft

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Easily giving way under pressure.

   • My head sank easily into the soft pillow.
   • My favorite Greek cheese is the creamy, sheepy manouri: delicately scented and almost spreadable, it’s like a softer, pudgier feta.
   • […] Category Two implement hitches and doubled high-traction agricultural tires hung four to each massive rear axle to breast the steepest, softest dune or guckiest swamp […]
2. 2

   Smooth and flexible

   Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.

   • Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching.
   • soft silk; a soft skin
   • They that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
3. 3

   Quiet.

   • I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves in the trees.
   • Her voice was ever soft, / Gentle, and low, — an excellent thing in woman.
4. ›+ 44 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Gentle.

      • There was a soft breeze blowing.
      • I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward's; / Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine.
      • The meek or soft shall inherit the earth.
   2. 5

      Expressing gentleness or tenderness

      Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.

      • soft eyes
      • A soft answer turneth away wrath.
      • A face with gladness overspread, / Soft smiles, by human kindness bred.
   3. 6

      Gentle in action or motion

      Gentle in action or motion; easy.

      • On her soft axle, white she paces even, / And bears thee soft with the smooth air along.
   4. 7

      Limp, weak.

   5. 8

      Weak in character

      Weak in character; impressible.

      • The deceiver soon found this soft place of Adam's.
   6. 9

      Requiring little or no effort

      Requiring little or no effort; easy.

      • Before that they had been a good deal on the move, trekking about after the white man, who was one of those rolling stones that keep going round after a soft job.
   7. 10

      Not bright or intense.

      • soft lighting
   8. 11

      Having a slight angle from straight.

      • At the intersection with two roads going left, take the soft left.
      • It's important to dance on soft knees to avoid injury.
   9. 12

      Voiced

      Voiced; sonant; lenis.

      • DH represents the voiced (soft) th of English these clothes.
   10. 13

       Voiceless.

   11. 14

       Palatalized.

   12. 15

       Excessively empathetic or concerned about others’ wellbeing.

       • He’s too soft for the ruthless world of finance.
   13. 16

       Lacking strength or resolve

       Lacking strength or resolve; not tough, wimpy.

       • When it comes to drinking, he is as soft as they come.
       • ‘Going soft on me, Jack?’ ‘You know I’m not.’ ‘Then why all the fuss and blow?’
       • Warden Kuril: Every day I see the worst sapient life has to offer. Governments are soft, unwilling to make the hard choices. Warden Kuril: Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe.
   14. 17

       Low in dissolved calcium compounds.

       • You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft.
   15. 18

       Foolish.

       • He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.
   16. 19

       Of a ferromagnetic material

       Of a ferromagnetic material; a material that becomes essentially non-magnetic when an external magnetic field is removed, a material with a low magnetic coercivity. (compare hard)

   17. 20

       Physically or emotionally weak.

       • see: snowflake and softie
   18. 21

       Effeminate.

       • A longing after sensual pleasures is a dissolution of the spirit of a man, and makes it loose, soft, and wandering.
   19. 22

       Agreeable to the senses.

       • a soft liniment
       • soft wines
       • the soft, delicious air
   20. 23

       Agreeable generally

       Agreeable generally; pleasant.

       • And then there'll be the insurance people. And then a young man introducing himself as "The Press". I'll tell you what, sergeant, this being burgled isn't such a soft thing after all.
   21. 24

       Not harsh or offensive to the sight

       Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye.

       • soft colours
       • the soft outline of the snow-covered hill
       • The sun, shining upon the upper part of the clouds […] made the softest lights imaginable.
   22. 25

       Made up of nonparallel rays, tending to wrap around a subject and produce diffuse shadows.

   23. 26

       Incomplete, or temporary

       Incomplete, or temporary; not a full action.

       • The admin imposed a soft ban on the user.
       • Messages removed by soft deletion can be recovered if necessary.
   24. 27

       Emulated with software

       Emulated with software; not physically real.

       • Press the red button on the soft phone to hang up.
   25. 28

       Not likely to cause addiction.

   26. 29

       Not containing alcohol.

   27. 30

       Easy-going, lenient, not strict

       Easy-going, lenient, not strict; permissive.

       • soft on crime
   28. 31

       Of a market

       Of a market: having more supply than demand; being a buyer's market.

       • Overall the rental market is soft and multifamily permit activity is almost nonexistent.
   29. 32

       Softcore

   30. 33

       Mild, tame, moderate

       Mild, tame, moderate; far from intense or excluding harsh elements.

       • soft humiliation play
       • soft raceplay
       • soft vore
   31. 34

       Of paper

       Of paper: unsized.

   32. 35

       Of silk

       Of silk: having the natural gum cleaned or washed off.

   33. 36

       Of coal

       Of coal: bituminous, as opposed to anthracitic.

   34. 37

       Of weather

       Of weather: warm enough to melt ice; thawing.

   35. 38

       Attracted to or emotionally involved with someone.

   36. 39

       Fake

       Fake; counterfeit.

   37. 40

       Be quiet

       Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.

       • Soft, you; a word or two before you go. But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
   38. 41

       A soft-headed or foolish person

       A soft-headed or foolish person; an idiot.

       • It'll do you no good to sit in a spring-cart o' your own, if you've got a soft to drive you: he'll soon turn you over into the ditch.
   39. 42

       A soft drink.

       • Artois' story with water and softs was embodied in the difficult relationship between Raymond Boon and Spa's main owner and CEO, Guy du Bois.
   40. 43

       A tyre whose compound is softer than mediums, and harder than supersofts.

   41. 44

       A soft sound or part of a sound.

       • The expander doesn't really make the louds louder and the softs softer in one step […]
   42. 45

       A piece of software.

       • Sega and third-party licensees are set to release an abundance of softs that range from intense shooters to sports to reflex-testers.
   43. 46

       Banknotes.

       • Putting his mouth to my ear, he whispered hoarsely. "Do you want to buy any queer soft?" […] In my dream I had been haunted by a counterfeiter, vulgarly called "a smasher."
   44. 47

       Softly

       Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.

       • A Knight soft ryding towards them they spyde
       • There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

The neighborhood

• synonymcushiony
• synonymflabby
• synonymflaccid
• synonymflexible
• synonymsoft
• synonymspongy
• synonymmellow
• synonymmalleable
• synonymmoldable
• synonympliable
• synonymtender
• synonymyielding
• antonymfirm
• antonymhard
• antonymresistant
• antonymsolid
• antonymstony
• antonymunyielding
• neighbormollify
• neighbordoughy
• neighbordowny
• neighborflocculent
• neighborfoamy
• neighborspumescent