soft
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sŏft, IPA(key): /sɒft/
- (General American) enPR: sôft, IPA(key): /sɔft/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /sɑft/, enPR: sŏft
Audio (General American): (file) - (Southern US, obsolete) enPR: săft, IPA(key): /sæft/[1]
- Rhymes: -ɒft
Etymology 1
From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, alteration of earlier sēfte (“soft”), from Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) (“level, even, smooth, soft, gentle”) (compare *sōmiz (“agreeable, fitting”)), from Proto-Indo-European *semptio-, *semtio-, from *sem- (“one, whole”). Cognate with West Frisian sêft (“gentle; soft”), Dutch zacht (“soft”), German Low German sacht (“soft”), German sanft (“soft, yielding”), Old Norse sœmr (“agreeable, fitting”), samr (“same”). More at seem, same.
Adjective
soft (comparative softer, superlative softest)
- Easily giving way under pressure.
- My head sank easily into the soft pillow.
- 2010, Robert Beeman, No More Time for Sorrow, page 133:
- […] 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 […]
- (of cloth or similar material) Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.
- Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching.
- soft silk; a soft skin
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 11:8:
- They that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
- (of a sound) Quiet.
- I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves in the trees.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
- Her voice was ever soft, / Gentle, and low, — an excellent thing in woman.
- Gentle.
- There was a soft breeze blowing.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
- I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward's; / Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine.
- c. 1533, William Tyndale, An exposicion upon of Mathew:
- The meek or soft shall inherit the earth.
- Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.
- soft eyes
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 15:1:
- A soft answer turneth away wrath.
- 1815, William Wordsworth, To a Highland Girl:
- A face with gladness overspread, / Soft smiles, by human kindness bred.
- Gentle in action or motion; easy.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- On her soft axle, white she paces even, / And bears thee soft with the smooth air along.
- Weak in character; impressible.
- 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC:
- The deceiver soon found this soft place of Adam's.
- Requiring little or no effort; easy.
- 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Beach of Falesá:
- 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.
- Not bright or intense.
- soft lighting
- 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.
- (phonetics) Voiced; sonant; lenis.
- 1954, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings:
- DH represents the voiced (soft) th of English these clothes.
- (phonetics, rare) Voiceless.
- (Slavic, phonology) Palatalized.
- (slang) Lacking strength or resolve; not tough, wimpy.
- When it comes to drinking, he is as soft as they come.
- 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 31:
- ‘Going soft on me, Jack?’ ‘You know I’m not.’ ‘Then why all the fuss and blow?’
- 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Prison Ship Purgatory:
- 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.
- (of water) Low in dissolved calcium compounds.
- You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft.
- (UK, colloquial) Foolish.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Essential Anatomy of Melancholy:
- He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.
- (physics) 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)
- (of a person) Physically or emotionally weak.
- (UK, of a man) Effeminate.
- 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living:
- A longing after sensual pleasures is a dissolution of the spirit of a man, and makes it loose, soft, and wandering.
- Agreeable to the senses.
- a soft liniment
- soft wines
- 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- the soft, delicious air
- 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
- 1673, Edward Browne, A Brief Account of some Travels in Hungaria, Styria, Bulgaria, Thessaly, Austria, Serbia, Carynthia, Carniola, and Friuli:
- The sun, shining upon the upper part of the clouds […] made the softest lights imaginable.
- (photography, of light) Made up of nonparallel rays, tending to wrap around a subject and produce diffuse shadows.
- 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.
- (computing) Emulated with software; not physically real.
- Press the red button on the soft phone to hang up.
- (of a drug) Not likely to cause addiction.
- (of a drink) Not containing alcohol.
- Easy-going, lenient, not strict; permissive.
- soft on crime
- (finance) Of a market: having more supply than demand; being a buyer's market.
- Antonym: hard
- 1995, U.S. Housing Market Conditions, page 45:
- Overall the rental market is soft and multifamily permit activity is almost nonexistent.
- (of pornography) Softcore.
- Of paper: unsized.
- Of silk: having the natural gum cleaned or washed off.
- Of coal: bituminous, as opposed to anthracitic.
- Of weather: warm enough to melt ice; thawing.
Synonyms
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “giving way under pressure”): hard, resistant, solid, stony
- (antonym(s) of “of a cloth”): abrasive, scratchy
- (antonym(s) of “gentle”): harsh, rough, strong
- (antonym(s) of “acute”): hard
- (antonym(s) of “of a sound”): loud
- (antonym(s) of “lacking strength or resolve”): firm, strict, tough
- (antonym(s) of “of water”): hard
- (antonym(s) of “foolish”): sensible
Derived terms
- airsoft
- failsoft
- hypersoft
- mallsoft
- nonsoft
- oversoft
- semisoft
- Softail
- softback
- softbacked
- softball
- softbill
- softboard
- softbottom
- softbound
- softbox
- softboy
- softcoat
- softcode
- softcover
- softcovered
- soften
- softgel
- softgoods
- softhead
- softheaded
- softhearted
- softie
- softish
- softleaf
- softline
- softling
- softlock
- softly
- softmask
- softness
- softnose
- softpaste
- softplay
- softplus
- softroader
- softscape
- softshell
- softship
- softsub
- softtail
- softwall
- softwater
- softwear
- softy
- ultrasoft
- unsoft
Compound words and expressions
- fail-soft
- go soft
- semi-soft
- silky soft
- soft 404
- soft a
- soft as a baby's bottom
- soft as silk
- soft atheism
- soft atheist
- soft begging
- soft bigotry of low expectations
- soft-block
- soft-boiled
- soft boiled
- soft boxing
- soft boy
- soft break
- soft Brexit
- soft butch
- soft c
- soft canon
- soft capping
- soft chancre
- soft cheese
- soft-close
- soft coal
- soft copy
- soft coral
- soft-core
- soft corner
- soft coup
- soft deletion
- soft determinism
- soft determinist
- soft dollars
- soft-dotted
- soft drink
- soft drug
- soft elm
- soft error
- soft flimsy
- soft focus
- soft fork
- soft fox sedge
- soft fruit
- soft funding
- soft g
- soft girl
- soft goods
- soft-grain
- soft grunge
- soft hand
- soft handed
- soft-handed
- soft hands
- soft-headed
- soft-hearted
- soft-heartedly
- soft-heartedness
- soft hyphen
- soft in the head
- soft jade
- soft key
- soft kill
- soft-land
- soft land
- soft landing
- soft-launch
- soft launch
- soft-liner
- soft link
- soft lithography
- soft loan
- soft luxury
- soft maple
- soft market
- soft matte
- soft media
- soft Mick
- soft-minded
- soft-mindedly
- soft-mindedness
- soft mode
- soft money
- soft mutation
- soft news
- soft-nosed
- softnose, soft-nose, soft nose
- soft on
- soft-on
- soft opening
- soft ordnance
- soft palate
- soft paraffin
- soft-paste
- soft paste
- soft paywall
- soft-pedal
- soft pedal
- soft-pedal, soft pedal
- soft peddle
- soft photon
- soft pine
- soft play
- soft point
- soft-point
- soft power
- soft real-time
- soft reboot
- soft redirect
- soft reference
- soft return
- soft robot
- soft robot
- soft robotics
- soft rock
- soft roe
- soft room
- soft rot
- soft rush
- soft-sawder
- soft sawder
- soft science
- soft science fiction
- soft-sectored
- soft sectoring
- soft sell
- soft serve
- soft served
- soft-served
- soft-shelled turtle
- soft-shell turtle
- soft-shoe
- soft shoe
- soft shoulder
- soft sign
- soft skill
- soft snap
- soft-soap
- soft soap
- soft-spoken
- soft spot
- soft steel
- soft-sub
- soft sub
- soft surfboard
- soft swap
- soft tack
- soft target
- soft tennis
- soft thing
- soft tick
- soft tissue
- soft tommy
- soft top
- soft tortoise
- soft touch
- soft toy
- soft underbelly
- software
- soft water
- soft wheat
- softwood
- soft X-ray
Translations
easily giving way under pressure
|
of cloth or similar material: smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh
|
of a sound — see also quiet
|
gentle — see also gentle
|
expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind
weak in character; impressible
requiring little or no effort; easy
phonetics: voiced, sonant, lenis — see also voiced
slang: lacking strength or resolve; not tough, wimpy
of water: low in dissolved calcium compounds
UK, colloquial: foolish — see foolish
physics, of a ferromagnetic material: that becomes essentially non-magnetic when an external magnetic field is removed
UK, of a man: effeminate — see effeminate
not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye
photography, of light: made up of nonparallel rays, tending to wrap around a subject and produce diffuse shadows
incomplete, or temporary; not a full action
computing: emulated with software; not physically real — see emulated
of a drink: not containing alcohol
|
|
finance, of a market: having more supply than demand; being a buyer's market
See also
Interjection
soft
- (archaic) Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Soft, you; a word or two before you go.
But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
Noun
soft (plural softs)
- A soft or foolish person; an idiot.
- 1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 9, in Adam Bede […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book first:
- 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.
- (motor racing) Ellipsis of soft tyre. (A tyre whose compound is softer than mediums, and harder than supersofts.)
- (colloquial) A soft sound or part of a sound.
- 2012, Sam McGuire, Paul Lee, The Video Editor's Guide to Soundtrack Pro, page 103:
- The expander doesn't really make the louds louder and the softs softer in one step […]
- (computing, dated, nonstandard, rare) A piece of software.
- December 1989, Electronic Gaming Monthly:
- Sega and third-party licensees are set to release an abundance of softs that range from intense shooters to sports to reflex-testers.
- December 1989, Electronic Gaming Monthly:
Etymology 2
From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte (“softly”), from Proto-West Germanic *samftō (“softly”).
Adverb
soft (comparative more soft, superlative most soft)
- (obsolete) Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 9:
- A Knight soft ryding towards them they spyde
- 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091:
- 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.
References
- Stanley, Oma (1937) “I. Vowel Sounds in Stressed Syllables”, in The Speech of East Texas (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 2), New York: Columbia University Press, , →ISBN, § 8, page 22.
Anagrams
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