- yielding readily to touch or pressure; easily penetrated, divided, or changed in shape; not hard or stiff: a soft pillow.
- relatively deficient in hardness, as metal or wood.
- smooth and agreeable to the touch; not rough or coarse: a soft fabric; soft skin.
- producing agreeable sensations; pleasant or comfortable: soft slumber.
- low or subdued in sound; gentle and melodious: soft music;a soft voice.
- not harsh or unpleasant to the eye; not glaring: soft light;a soft color.
- not hard or sharp: soft outlines.
- gentle or mild: soft breezes.
- genial or balmy, as climate or air.
- gentle, mild, warm-hearted, or compassionate: a soft, grandmotherly woman.
- smooth, soothing, or ingratiating: soft words.
- not harsh or severe, as a penalty or demand.
- responsive or sympathetic to the feelings, emotions, needs, etc., of others; tender-hearted.
- sentimental or flowery, as language: soft, meaningless talk.
- not strong or robust; delicate; incapable of great endurance or exertion: He was too soft for the Marines.
- easy; involving little effort; not difficult, laborious, trying, or severe: a soft job.
- easily influenced or swayed; easily imposed upon; impressionable.
- lenient, permissive, or conciliatory, especially regarding something that is conceived of as dangerous or threatening: to be soft on Communism.
- (of water) relatively free from mineral salts that interfere with the action of soap.
- (of paper money or a monetary system) not supported by sufficient gold reserves or not easily convertible into a foreign currency.
- (of a market, market condition, or prices) declining in value, volume, profitability, etc.; weak: a soft tourist season.
- (of money) plentiful or available at low interest rates or on easy terms: a soft loan.
- soft-core.
- Metallurgy.
- (of a metal) easily magnetized and demagnetized.
- (of solder) fusing readily.
- (of a metal or alloy) fully annealed, so as to provide minimum mechanical hardness.
- Photography.
- (of a photographic image) having delicate gradations of tone.
- (of a focus) lacking in sharpness.
- (of a lens) unable to be focused sharply.
- Phonetics.
- (of consonants) lenis, especially lenis and voiced.
- (of c and g) pronounced as in cent and gem.
- (of consonants in Slavic languages) palatalized.
- (of a missile-launching base) aboveground and relatively unprotected from enemy attack.
- (of a landing of a space vehicle) gentle; not harmful to the vehicle or its contents: a soft landing on the moon.
- (of a beam of particles or electromagnetic radiation) having relatively low energy: soft x-rays.
- (of a delegate, voter, etc.) not committed to any one candidate.
- foolish or stupid: soft in the head.
- (of a detergent) readily biodegradable.
- lacking power or speed: a soft infield hit; a soft breaking pitch.
- something that is soft or yielding; the soft part.
- softness.
- in a soft manner.
- be quiet! hush!
- not so fast! stop!
- to be amorously inclined toward a person; have an affection for: He's been soft on her for years.
- 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
- drizzly or rainy
- slightly blurred; not sharply outlined
- (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
- 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
- loving; tender
- requiring little exertion; easy
- (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
- (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 c and g in English when they are pronounced as palatal or alveolar fricatives or affricates (s, / dʒ /, / ʃ /, / ð /, / tʃ /) before e 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
- unarmoured, esp as applied to a truck by comparison with a tank
- (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
- (of valves or tubes) only partially evacuated
- related to the performance of non-specific, undefinable tasks
- soft on or soft about
- gentle, sympathetic, or lenient towards
- feeling affection or infatuation for
- in a soft manner
- a soft object, part, or piece
- informal See softie
- quiet!
- wait!
