Wiktionary

soft

See also: -soft and софт

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *sem-
Proto-Germanic *samþuz / *samftuz
Proto-Germanic *-jaz
Proto-West Germanic *-ī
Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī)
Old English sōfte
Middle English softe
English soft

    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

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    soft (comparative softer, superlative softest)

    1. Easily giving way under pressure.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:soft
      Antonyms: hard, resistant, solid, stony
      My head sank easily into the soft pillow.
      • 2007 September 9, Sara Dickerman, “Olympic Dinners”, in New York Times‎[1]:
        My favorite Greek cheese is the creamy, sheepy manouri: delicately scented and almost spreadable, it’s like a softer, pudgier feta.
      • 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 […]
    2. (of cloth or similar material) Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.
      Synonyms: fluffy, non-abrasive
      Antonyms: abrasive, scratchy
      Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching.
      soft silk; a soft skin
    4. (of a sound) Quiet.
      Synonym: quiet
      Antonym: loud
      I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves in the trees.
    5. Gentle.
      Synonyms: gentle, light, nesh
      Antonyms: harsh, rough, strong
      There was a soft breeze blowing.
    6. Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.
      soft eyes
    7. 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.
    8. Limp, weak.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Not bright or intense.
      soft lighting
    12. Having a slight angle from straight.
      Near-synonym: acute (geometry)
      Antonym: hard
      At the intersection with two roads going left, take the soft left.
      It's important to dance on soft knees to avoid injury.
    13. (phonetics) Voiced; sonant; lenis.
    14. (phonetics, rare) Voiceless.
    15. (Slavic, phonology) Palatalized.
    16. (slang) Excessively empathetic or concerned about others’ wellbeing.
      He’s too soft for the ruthless world of finance.
    17. (slang) Lacking strength or resolve; not tough, wimpy.
      Synonyms: meek, mild, nesh, wimpy
      Antonyms: firm, strict, tough
      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.
    18. (of water) Low in dissolved calcium compounds.
      Antonym: hard
      You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft.
    19. (UK, colloquial) Foolish.
      Synonyms: daft, foolish, silly, stupid; see also Thesaurus:foolish
      Antonym: sensible
      • 1621, Robert Burton, The Essential Anatomy of Melancholy:
        He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.
    20. (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)
    21. (of a person) Physically or emotionally weak.
      see: snowflake and softie
    22. (UK, of a man) Effeminate.
      Synonyms: epicene, fruity, swish; see also Thesaurus:feminine
      • 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.
    23. 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
    24. (UK, slang, dated) Agreeable generally; pleasant.
      • 1927, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados Mysteries:
        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.
    25. 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.
    26. (photography, of light) Made up of nonparallel rays, tending to wrap around a subject and produce diffuse shadows.
    27. 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.
    28. (computing) Emulated with software; not physically real.
      Press the red button on the soft phone to hang up.
    29. (of a drug) Not likely to cause addiction.
    30. (of a drink) Not containing alcohol.
      Antonyms: alcoholic, hard
    31. Easy-going, lenient, not strict; permissive.
      Synonyms: easy, lax, soft-handed; see also Thesaurus:lenient
      Antonym: hard
      soft on crime
    32. (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.
    33. (of pornography) Softcore
      Antonyms: hard, hardcore
    34. (of kinks or sexual activity) Mild, tame, moderate; far from intense or excluding harsh elements.
      Synonym: light
      Antonym: rough
      soft humiliation play
      soft raceplay
      soft vore
    35. Of paper: unsized.
    36. Of silk: having the natural gum cleaned or washed off.
    37. Of coal: bituminous, as opposed to anthracitic.
    38. Of weather: warm enough to melt ice; thawing.
    39. (informal, idiomatic, followed by on) Attracted to or emotionally involved with someone.
    40. (UK, slang) Fake; counterfeit.
      • 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
        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.
    Derived terms
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    single words
    Compound words and expressions
    Translations
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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked
    See also
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    Interjection

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    soft

    1. (archaic) Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.

    Noun

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    soft (countable and uncountable, plural softs)

    1. (countable, archaic) A soft-headed or foolish person; an idiot.
    2. A soft drink.
      • 2019, Kenneth Bertrams, Julien Del Marmol, Sander Geerts, Becoming the World's Biggest Brewer:
        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.
    3. (countable, motor racing) A tyre whose compound is softer than mediums, and harder than supersofts.
    4. (countable, 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 […]
    5. (countable, 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.
    6. (UK, slang, obsolete, uncountable) Banknotes.
      • 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
        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).
      • 1876, The Guernsey Magazine, volume 4:
        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."

    Etymology 2

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    From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte (“softly”), from Proto-West Germanic *samftō (“softly”).

    Adverb

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    soft (comparative more soft, superlative most soft)

    1. (obsolete) Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.

    References

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    1. ^ 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, →DOI, →ISBN, § 8, page 22. (Says this pronunciation was used only by some older people who had not received a formal education.)

    Anagrams

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    Czech

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from English soft(ware).

    Noun

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    soft m inan

    1. (colloquial) software, program
      • 18 March 1999, CD-R 74min X 80min, Group cz.comp.ibmpc:
        Zajimalo by mne, zda jsou tyto CD schopna pracovat na plnou kapacitu s normalnimi vypalovackami a beznym softem nebo je na ne potreba mit extra vypalovadlo i soft?
      • 19 March 2009, Zalohovaci SW, Group cz.talk:
        Pokud těch dat máte víc, pak tím TARem stačí zálohovat základ systému a zbytek řešit zálohovacím softem, kterej umí dělit archiv na několik pásek.
      • 2 April 2010, gsm modul / telefon, Group cz.comp.linux:
        ma nekdo nejake zkusenosti s takovym zarizenim ci softem kterym to ovladat?

    Declension

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    Declension of soft (hard masculine inanimate)
    singular plural
    nominative soft softy
    genitive softu softů
    dative softu softům
    accusative soft softy
    vocative softe softy
    locative softu softech
    instrumental softem softy

    Further reading

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    Dutch

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from English soft.

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /sɔft/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: bio‧me‧disch

    Adjective

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    soft (comparative softer, superlative softst)

    1. soft, gentle
      Het beleid in Nederland is te soft.
      The policy in the Netherlands is too soft.

    Declension

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    Declension of soft
    uninflected soft
    inflected softe
    comparative softer
    positive comparative superlative
    predicative/adverbial soft softer het softst
    het softste
    indefinite m./f. sing. softe softere softste
    n. sing. soft softer softste
    plural softe softere softste
    definite softe softere softste
    partitive softs softers —

    French

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    Etymology

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      Borrowed from English soft.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      soft m (plural softs)

      1. (sexuality) soft porn
      2. (computing, uncountable) software
      3. (computing, countable) a piece of software

      Adjective

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      soft (plural softs)

      1. softcore (pornography)

      Italian

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      Etymology

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      Unadapted borrowing from English soft.

      Pronunciation

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      Adjective

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      soft (invariable)

      1. soft (tone etc.; temporary (computing))

      References

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      1. ^ soft in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

      Romanian

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from English software.

      Noun

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      soft n (plural softuri)

      1. software

      Declension

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      singular plural
      indefinite definite indefinite definite
      nominative-accusative soft softul softuri softurile
      genitive-dative soft softului softuri softurilor
      vocative softule softurilor

      Swedish

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      Etymology

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      From English soft.

      Adjective

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      soft (comparative softare, superlative softast)

      1. (slang) nice or laid-back; chill
        Antonym: osoft
        en soft snubbe
        a chill guy
        Det ska bli riktigt soft med några dagar ledigt
        It's gonna be real chill to have a few days off
        Soft att du klarade provet!
        Nice that you passed the test!

      Declension

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      Inflection of soft
      Indefinite positive comparative superlative1
      common singular soft softare softast
      neuter singular soft softare softast
      plural softa softare softast
      masculine plural2 softe softare softast
      Definite positive comparative superlative
      masculine singular3 softe softare softaste
      all softa softare softaste

      1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
      2 Dated or archaic.
      3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

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      References

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