soft (sɒft
)
Definitions
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
- chemistry (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 (sense 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 (not in technical usage) denoting the consonants c and (not in technical usage) denoting the consonants and g in English when they are pronounced as palatal or alveolar fricatives or affricates (s, //, //, //, //) before (not in technical usage) denoting the consonants and in English when they are pronounced as palatal or alveolar fricatives or affricates (s, //, //, //, //) before e and (not in technical usage) denoting the consonants and in English when they are pronounced as palatal or alveolar fricatives or affricates (s, //, //, //, //) before 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 attack ⇒
a soft target
- military unarmoured, esp as applied to a truck by comparison with a tank
- unprotected against attack ⇒
- 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
- See soft on
adverb
- in a soft manner ⇒
to speak soft
noun
- a soft object, part, or piece
- informal See softie
exclamation
archaic- quiet!
- wait!
Alternative Forms
ˈsoftly adverbWord Origin
Old English sōfte; related to Old Saxon sāfti, Old High German semfti gentleSynonyms
View thesaurus entry=
squashy,
sloppy,
mushy,
spongy,
squidgy,
squishy,
gelatinous,
squelchy,
pulpy,
doughy,
gloopy,
semi-liquid
=
pliable,
flexible,
supple,
malleable,
plastic,
elastic,
tensile,
ductile,
bendable,
mouldable,
impressible,
=
quiet,
low,
gentle,
sweet,
whispered,
soothing,
murmured,
muted,
subdued,
mellow,
understated,
melodious,
mellifluous,
dulcet,
soft-toned
=
lenient,
easy-going,
lax,
liberal,
weak,
indulgent,
permissive,
spineless,
boneless,
overindulgent,
=
kind,
tender,
sentimental,
compassionate,
sensitive,
gentle,
pitying,
sympathetic,
tenderhearted,
touchy-feely,
= out of condition
weak,
limp,
pampered,
flabby,
effeminate,
flaccid,
podgy,
out of training,
namby-pamby,
overindulged,
Translations
- British English:
soft
Something that is soft is nice to touch, and not rough or hard.She wiped the baby's face with a soft cloth.sɒft ADJECTIVE She wiped the baby's face with a soft cloth.
- Spanish:
blando
adj blanda
- French:
doux
adj
- German:
weich
adj
- Chinese: 软的 adj
- Arabic: نَاعِم adj
- Portuguese: macio adj macia
- Russian: мягкий adj мягкая
- Croatian: mekan adj mekana
- Czech: měkký adj
- Danish: blød adj
- Dutch: zacht adj
- Finnish: pehmeä adj
- Greek: μαλακός adj μαλακή
- Italian: morbido adj morbida
- Japanese: 柔らかい adj
- Korean: 부드러운 adj
- Norwegian: myk adj
- Polish: miękki adj miękka
- Brazilian Portuguese: macio adj macia
- European Spanish:
blando
adj blanda
- Swedish: mjuk adj mjukt
- Thai: อ่อนนุ่ม adj
- Turkish: yumuşak n
- Vietnamese: mềm adj
Usage examples
He did not want his voice to carry over the soft burble of the current.
, LIRAEL: DAUGHTER OF THE CLAYR (2001)Once your prey has fallen in, grab a rock and bash in its soft , furry noggin.
Maxim (2004)The recent address by John Rogers SC to the Burren Law School is a nice example of soft euroscepticism.
Irish Times (2002)In wet weather the damaged tubers are often entered by a second organism to cause soft rot.
Glasgow Herald (2001)The swelling was diminished merely by half, but what remained formed a soft irregular mass, which puzzled the attendants.
, THE MEDICAL MYSTERIES E-OMNIBUS (2001)