| / English Dictionary |
SOFT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not brilliant or glaring
Example:
subdued lighting
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
dull (emitting or reflecting very little light)
Derivation:
softness (a visual property that is subdued and free from brilliance or glare)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Mild and pleasant
Example:
a soft breeze
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
clement ((of weather or climate) physically mild)
Derivation:
softness (the quality of weather that is deliciously mild and soothing)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not burdensome or demanding; borne or done easily and without hardship
Example:
a soft job
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
easy (posing no difficulty; requiring little effort)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Willing to negotiate and compromise
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
conciliative; conciliatory (intended to placate)
Derivation:
softness (acting in a manner that is gentle and mild and even-tempered)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Out of condition; not strong or robust; incapable of exertion or endurance
Example:
flaccid cheeks
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unfit (not in good physical or mental condition; out of condition)
Derivation:
softness (poor physical condition; being out of shape or out of condition (as from a life of ease and luxury))
Sense 6
Meaning:
Yielding readily to pressure or weight
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
velvet; velvety (resembling velvet in having a smooth soft surface)
spongelike; spongy; squashy; squishy (easily squashed; resembling a sponge in having soft porous texture and compressibility)
semisoft; softish (somewhat soft)
overstuffed (upholstered thickly and deeply)
mushy (having the consistency of mush)
yielding (lacking stiffness and giving way to pressure)
flocculent; woolly; wooly (having a fluffy character or appearance)
flaccid (drooping without elasticity; wanting in stiffness)
downlike; downy; flossy; fluffy (like down or as soft as down)
demulcent; emollient; salving; softening (having a softening or soothing effect especially to the skin)
cushioned; cushiony; padded (softened by the addition of cushions or padding)
cottony (resembling cotton; as soft as cotton)
compressible; squeezable (capable of being easily compressed)
cheeselike (having the consistency of cheese)
brushed; fleecy; napped ((of fabrics) having soft nap produced by brushing)
Attribute:
hardness (the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale)
Antonym:
hard (resisting weight or pressure)
Derivation:
softness (the property of giving little resistance to pressure and being easily cut or molded)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Compassionate and kind; conciliatory
Example:
he was soft on his children
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
mellow; mellowed (softened through age or experience)
Also:
warmhearted (marked by warmth of feeling like kindness and sympathy and generosity)
tender (given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality)
Antonym:
hard (dispassionate)
Derivation:
softness (acting in a manner that is gentle and mild and even-tempered)
Sense 8
Meaning:
(of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward the hard palate; characterized by a hissing or hushing sound (as 's' and 'sh')
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
continuant; fricative; sibilant; spirant; strident (of speech sounds produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as 'f', 's', 'z', or 'th' in both 'thin' and 'then'))
palatal; palatalised; palatalized (produced with the front of the tongue near or touching the hard palate (as 'y') or with the blade of the tongue near the hard palate (as 'ch' in 'chin' or 'j' in 'gin'))
Antonym:
hard ((of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward or touching the velum)
Derivation:
softness (a sound property that is free from loudness or stridency)
Sense 9
Meaning:
(of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Antonym:
hard ((of light) transmitted directly from a pointed light source)
Sense 10
Meaning:
Having little impact
Example:
a soft (or light) tapping at the window
Synonyms:
easy; gentle; soft
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
light (of little intensity or power or force)
Sense 11
Meaning:
(of sound) relatively low in volume
Example:
soft music
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
soft-spoken (having a speaking manner that is not loud or harsh)
soft-footed (sound of quiet gentle steps)
murmurous; rustling; soughing; susurrous (characterized by soft sounds)
murmuring; susurrant; whispering (making a low continuous indistinct sound)
low; low-toned (very low in volume)
little; small ((of a voice) faint)
hushed; muted; quiet; subdued (in a softened tone)
gentle (quiet and soothing)
euphonious ((of speech or dialect) pleasing in sound; not harsh or strident)
dull; muffled; muted; softened (being or made softer or less loud or clear)
Also:
quiet (free of noise or uproar; or making little if any sound)
Attribute:
intensity; loudness; volume (the magnitude of sound (usually in a specified direction))
Antonym:
loud (characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity)
Derivation:
softness (a sound property that is free from loudness or stridency)
Sense 12
Meaning:
(used chiefly as a direction or description in music) soft; in a quiet, subdued tone
Example:
the piano passages in the composition
Synonyms:
piano; soft
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
pianissimo; pianissimo assai ((chiefly a direction or description in music) very soft)
Sense 13
Meaning:
Not protected against attack (especially by nuclear weapons)
Example:
soft targets
Classified under:
Adjectives
Antonym:
hardened (protected against attack (especially by nuclear weapons))
Sense 14
Meaning:
Soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
Example:
poked gentle fun at him
Synonyms:
gentle; soft
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
mild (moderate in type or degree or effect or force; far from extreme)
Sense 15
Meaning:
Tolerant or lenient
Example:
they are soft on crime
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
permissive (granting or inclined or able to grant permission; not strict in discipline)
Derivation:
softness (a disposition to be lenient in judging others)
Sense 16
Meaning:
Using evidence not readily amenable to experimental verification or refutation
Example:
the soft sciences
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
qualitative (involving distinctions based on qualities)
Sense 17
Meaning:
Produced with vibration of the vocal cords
Example:
voiced consonants such as 'b' and 'g' and 'z'
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Sense 18
Meaning:
Easily hurt
Example:
a baby's delicate skin
Synonyms:
delicate; soft
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
tender; untoughened (physically untoughened)
Sense 19
Meaning:
(of a commodity or market or currency) falling or likely to fall in value
Example:
the market for computers is soft
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
falling (becoming lower or less in degree or value)
Derivation:
softness (a state of declining economic condition)
II. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
In a relaxed manner; or without hardship
Example:
the judge went easy on the young defendant
Synonyms:
easy; soft
Classified under:
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Pertainym:
soft (not burdensome or demanding; borne or done easily and without hardship)
Context examples:
A substance being studied in the treatment of soft tissue and bone cancers.
(AP23573, NCI Dictionary)
Also called alveolar soft part sarcoma.
(ASPS, NCI Dictionary)
In a minute I had my face under their bonnets, in contact first with Mary's soft cheek, then with Diana's flowing curls.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
A benign soft tissue neoplasm usually arising in the pelviperineal region, characterized by the presence of neoplastic spindle to round cells, dilated thin walled vessels, and stromal edema.
(Angiomyofibroblastoma, NCI Thesaurus)
A low malignant potential soft tissue neoplasm of uncertain differentiation.
(Angiomatoid Fibrous Histiocytoma, NCI Thesaurus)
A morphologic variant of chondrosarcoma arising from soft tissue and bone, occurring in adults.
(Adult Myxoid Chondrosarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)
Soft tissue sarcoma occuring in adults.
(Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)
A soft tissue tumor that is most common in older children and teenagers.
(Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, NCI Dictionary)
Wherever his fangs struck for the softer flesh, they were countered by the fangs of Spitz.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
The dog's worked hard, and maybe he's earned a soft berth an' has got a right to choose. Anyway, we'll leave it up to him. Whatever he says, goes.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
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