soft

soft [sôft, säft]

adj.

[ME < OE softe, gentle, quiet < sefte, akin to Ger sanft < IE base * sem-, together, together with > SMOOTH, SAME: basic sense “fitting, friendly, suited to”]

1. giving way easily under pressure, as a feather pillow or moist clay

2. easily cut, marked, shaped, or worn away, as pine wood or pure gold

3. not hard for its kind; not as hard as is normal, desirable, etc. [soft butter]

4. smooth or fine to the touch; not rough, harsh, or coarse

5.

a) bland; not acid, sour, or sharp

b) easy to digest because free from roughage: said of a diet

6. nonalcoholic: said of drinks

7. having in solution few or none of the mineral salts that interfere with the lathering and cleansing properties of soap: said of water

8. mild, gentle, or temperate, as a breeze, the weather, climate, etc.

9.

a) weak or delicate; not strong or vigorous; esp., not able to endure hardship, as because of easy living

b) having flabby muscles

10. requiring little effort; easy [a soft job]

11.

a) kind or gentle, esp. to the point of weakness; lenient or compassionate

b) easily impressed, influenced, or imposed upon

12. not bright, intense, or glaring; subdued: said of color or light

13. showing little contrast or distinctness; not sharp in lines, tones, focus, etc., as a photograph

14. gentle; low; not loud or harsh: said of sound

15. based on data from interviews, surveys, etc., rather than from controlled, repeatable experiments [soft evidence, soft sciences such as sociology]

16. replenished by nature, or capable of being used with relatively little damage to the natural environment [solar power is a soft energy source]

17. providing information other than the basic facts of a news story [features are soft news]

18. Finance

a) unstable and declining: said of a market, prices, etc.

b) not readily accepted as foreign exchange: said of certain currencies

c) having very favorable terms: said of a loan

19. Mil. above ground and vulnerable: said of targets or bases

20. Phonet.

a) designating c sounded as in voice or g sounded as in age

b) voiced

c) palatalized, as certain consonants in Slavic languages are: not used in these ways as a technical term by phoneticians

21. Radiology of low penetrating power: said of X-rays

adv.

softly; gently; quietly

n.

something soft

interj.

Archaic

1. be quiet; hush

2. slow up; stop

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be soft on

1. to treat gently

2. to feel affectionate or amorous toward

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soft in the head

stupid or foolish

softly

adv.

softness

n.

SYN.- SOFT, in this connotation, implies an absence or reduction of all that is harsh, rough, too intense, etc., so as to be pleasing to the senses [soft colors, a soft voice ]; BLAND implies such an absence of irritation, stimulation, pungency, etc. in something as to make it soothing, unexciting, and hence, sometimes, uninteresting [bland foods, climate, etc. ]; MILD applies to that which is not as rough, harsh, irritating, etc. as it might be [a mild cigarette, criticism, etc. ]; GENTLE, often equivalent to MILD, carries a more positive connotation of being pleasantly soothing or tranquil [a gentle breeze, voice, etc. ] -ANT. HARSH, ROUGH