Pronunciations (8)
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/sɒft/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/sɔːft/
Pronunciation notes
- Ireland
- Multicultural-London-English
- Received-Pronunciation
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/sɔft/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
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/sɑft/
Pronunciation notes
- cot-caught-merger
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/sæft/
Pronunciation notes
- Texas
- obsolete
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sɒft
Pronunciation notes
- GB
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sɔft
Pronunciation notes
- US
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sɑft
Adjective
Easily giving way under pressure.
- Examples
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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.
More examples (1)
[…] 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 […]
Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.
Usage- of cloth or similar material
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching.
soft silk; a soft skin
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They that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
Quiet.
Usage- of a sound
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Examples
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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.
Gentle.
- Examples
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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.
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The meek or soft shall inherit the earth.
Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.
- Examples
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soft eyes
A soft answer turneth away wrath.
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A face with gladness overspread, / Soft smiles, by human kindness bred.
Gentle in action or motion; easy.
- Examples
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On her soft axle, white she paces even, / And bears thee soft with the smooth air along.
Limp, weak.
Weak in character; impressible.
- Examples
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The deceiver soon found this soft place of Adam's.
Requiring little or no effort; easy.
- Examples
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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.
- Examples
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soft lighting
Having a slight angle from straight.
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Examples
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At the intersection with two roads going left, take the soft left.
It's important to dance on soft knees to avoid injury.
Voiced; sonant; lenis.
- Examples
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DH represents the voiced (soft) th of English these clothes.
Voiceless.
Usage- Rare
Palatalized.
Excessively empathetic or concerned about others’ wellbeing.
Usage- Slang
- Examples
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He’s too soft for the ruthless world of finance.
Lacking strength or resolve; not tough, wimpy.
Usage- Slang
- Examples
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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?’
More examples (1)
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.
Low in dissolved calcium compounds.
Usage- of water
- Antonyms
- Examples
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You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft.
Foolish.
Usage- UK usage
- Colloquial
- Antonyms
- Examples
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He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.
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)
Physically or emotionally weak.
Usage- of a person
- Examples
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see: snowflake and softie
Effeminate.
Usage- UK usage
- of a man
- Examples
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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.
- Examples
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a soft liniment
soft wines
More examples (1)
the soft, delicious air
Agreeable generally; pleasant.
Usage- UK usage
- Dated
- Slang
- Examples
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More examples (1)
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.
Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye.
- Examples
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soft colours
the soft outline of the snow-covered hill
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The sun, shining upon the upper part of the clouds […] made the softest lights imaginable.
Made up of nonparallel rays, tending to wrap around a subject and produce diffuse shadows.
Usage- of light
Incomplete, or temporary; not a full action.
- Examples
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The admin imposed a soft ban on the user.
Messages removed by soft deletion can be recovered if necessary.
Emulated with software; not physically real.
- Examples
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Press the red button on the soft phone to hang up.
Not likely to cause addiction.
Usage- of a drug
Not containing alcohol.
Usage- of a drink
Easy-going, lenient, not strict; permissive.
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Examples
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soft on crime
Of a market: having more supply than demand; being a buyer's market.
- Antonyms
- Examples
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Overall the rental market is soft and multifamily permit activity is almost nonexistent.
Softcore
Usage- of pornography
Mild, tame, moderate; far from intense or excluding harsh elements.
Usage- of kinks or sexual activity
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Examples
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soft humiliation play
soft raceplay
More examples (1)
soft vore
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.
Attracted to or emotionally involved (with someone).
Usage- idiomatic
- Informal
- followed by on
Fake; counterfeit.
Usage- UK usage
- Slang
- Examples
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More examples (1)
All along, Nickle, I have tried to make you realise that this stroke was not to be a matter of planting a few soft fivers on racecourse bookies—I used to think that you had imagination. We intend to make notes of all the values and chiefly of the big ones.
Interjection
Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.
Usage- Archaic
- Examples
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Soft you; a word or two before you goe: / I haue done the State ſome ſeruice, and they know’t: / No more of that.
But ſoft, what light through yonder window breaks?
Noun
A soft-headed or foolish person; an idiot.
Usage- Archaic
- Countable
- Examples
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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.
A soft drink.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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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.
A tyre whose compound is softer than mediums, and harder than supersofts.
Usage- Countable
A soft sound or part of a sound.
Usage- Colloquial
- Countable
- Examples
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The expander doesn't really make the louds louder and the softs softer in one step […]
A piece of software.
Usage- Countable
- Dated
- nonstandard
- Rare
- Examples
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Sega and third-party licensees are set to release an abundance of softs that range from intense shooters to sports to reflex-testers.
Banknotes.
Usage- UK usage
- Obsolete
- Slang
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (2)
At the end of the two years and a half I got into the way of forged Bank-of-England notes. A man I knew in the course of business, said, ‘I would cut that game of ‘smatter-hauling,’ (stealing handkerchiefs), and do a little soft,’ (pass bad notes).
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."
Adverb
Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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A Knight soft ryding towards them they spyde
More examples (1)
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.
Adjective
yielding readily to pressure or weight
- Antonyms
compassionate and kind; conciliatory
- Antonyms
- Examples
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he was soft on his children
(of sound) relatively low in volume
- Antonyms
- Examples
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soft voices
soft music
easily hurt
- Synonyms
- Examples
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soft hands
a baby's delicate skin
produced with vibration of the vocal cords
- Examples
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voiced consonants such as ‘b’ and ‘g’ and ‘z’
not protected against attack (especially by nuclear weapons)
- Antonyms
- Examples
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soft targets
(used chiefly as a direction or description in music) soft; in a quiet, subdued tone
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the piano passages in the composition
(of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected
- Antonyms
(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’)
- Antonyms
(of a commodity or market or currency) falling or likely to fall in value
- Examples
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the market for computers is soft
using evidence not readily amenable to experimental verification or refutation
- Examples
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soft data
the soft sciences
tolerant or lenient
- Examples
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indulgent parents risk spoiling their children
too soft on the children
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they are soft on crime
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
- Synonyms
- Examples
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a gentle reprimand
a vein of gentle irony
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poked gentle fun at him
having little impact
- Examples
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an easy pat on the shoulder
gentle rain
More examples (2)
a gentle breeze
a soft (or light) tapping at the window
out of condition; not strong or robust; incapable of exertion or endurance
- Examples
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he was too soft for the army
flabby around the middle
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flaccid cheeks
willing to negotiate and compromise
not burdensome or demanding; borne or done easily and without hardship
- Examples
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what a cushy job!
the easygoing life of a parttime consultant
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a soft job
mild and pleasant
- Examples
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balmy days and nights
the climate was mild and conducive to life or growth
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a soft breeze
not brilliant or glaring
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the moon cast soft shadows
soft pastel colors
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subdued lighting
Adverb
in a relaxed manner; or without hardship
- Synonyms
- Examples
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just wanted to take it easy
the judge went easy on the young defendant