What does "soft" mean?
A soft-headed or foolish person; an idiot.
Soft
/sɒft/ adj, adv, intj, noun, slang
adj, adv, intj, noun, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A soft-headed or foolish person; an idiot.
- Grammar: soft is listed as adj, adv, intj, noun, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: gentle, lenient, mild, accented.
- Useful contrasts: abrasive, antonym(s) of, firm.
- Usage evidence: The air is soft, the soil moist.
How to use "soft"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "soft" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "soft" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "soft" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "soft" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "soft" is acting as adj, adv, intj, noun, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "gentle" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "soft", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A soft-headed or foolish person; an idiot. archaic, countable
"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."
- 2 A soft drink. countable, uncountable
"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 A tyre whose compound is softer than mediums, and harder than supersofts. countable
- 4 A soft sound or part of a sound. colloquial, countable
"The expander doesn't really make the louds louder and the softs softer in one step […]"
- 5 A piece of software. countable, dated, nonstandard, rare
"Sega and third-party licensees are set to release an abundance of softs that range from intense shooters to sports to reflex-testers."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Banknotes. UK, obsolete, slang, uncountable
"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)."
Adjective
- 1 Easily giving way under pressure.
"My head sank easily into the soft pillow."
- 2 Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.
"Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching."
- 3 Quiet.
"I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves in the trees."
- 4 Gentle.
"There was a soft breeze blowing."
- 5 Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.
"soft eyes"
Show 31 more definitions
- 6 Gentle in action or motion; easy.
"On her soft axle, white she paces even, / And bears thee soft with the smooth air along."
- 7 Weak in character; impressible.
"The deceiver soon found this soft place of Adam's."
- 8 Requiring little or no effort; easy.
"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."
- 9 Not bright or intense.
"soft lighting"
- 10 Having a slight angle from straight.
"At the intersection with two roads going left, take the soft left."
- 11 Voiced; sonant; lenis.
"DH represents the voiced (soft) th of English these clothes."
- 12 Voiceless. rare
- 13 Palatalized.
- 14 Excessively empathetic or concerned about others’ wellbeing. slang
"He’s too soft for the ruthless world of finance."
- 15 Lacking strength or resolve; not tough, wimpy. slang
"When it comes to drinking, he is as soft as they come."
- 16 Low in dissolved calcium compounds.
"You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft."
- 17 Foolish. UK, colloquial
"He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad."
- 18 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)
- 19 Physically or emotionally weak.
"see: snowflake and softie"
- 20 Effeminate. UK
"A longing after sensual pleasures is a dissolution of the spirit of a man, and makes it loose, soft, and wandering."
- 21 Agreeable to the senses.
"a soft liniment"
- 22 Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye.
"soft colours"
- 23 Made up of nonparallel rays, tending to wrap around a subject and produce diffuse shadows.
- 24 Incomplete, or temporary; not a full action.
"The admin imposed a soft ban on the user."
- 25 Emulated with software; not physically real.
"Press the red button on the soft phone to hang up."
- 26 Not likely to cause addiction.
- 27 Not containing alcohol.
- 28 Easy-going, lenient, not strict; permissive.
"soft on crime"
- 29 Of a market: having more supply than demand; being a buyer's market.
"Overall the rental market is soft and multifamily permit activity is almost nonexistent."
- 30 Softcore
- 31 Mild, tame, moderate; far from intense or excluding harsh elements.
"soft humiliation play"
- 32 Of paper: unsized.
- 33 Of silk: having the natural gum cleaned or washed off.
- 34 Of coal: bituminous, as opposed to anthracitic.
- 35 Of weather: warm enough to melt ice; thawing.
- 36 Attracted to or emotionally involved with someone. idiomatic, informal
Adjective
- 1 not brilliant or glaring wordnet
- 2 mild and pleasant wordnet
- 3 not burdensome or demanding; borne or done easily and without hardship wordnet
- 4 willing to negotiate and compromise wordnet
- 5 out of condition; not strong or robust; incapable of exertion or endurance wordnet
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 yielding readily to pressure or weight wordnet
- 7 compassionate and kind; conciliatory wordnet
- 8 (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’) wordnet
- 9 (of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected wordnet
- 10 having little impact wordnet
- 11 (of sound) relatively low in volume wordnet
- 12 (used chiefly as a direction or description in music) soft; in a quiet, subdued tone wordnet
- 13 not protected against attack (especially by nuclear weapons) wordnet
- 14 soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe wordnet
- 15 tolerant or lenient wordnet
- 16 using evidence not readily amenable to experimental verification or refutation wordnet
- 17 produced with vibration of the vocal cords wordnet
- 18 easily hurt wordnet
- 19 (of a commodity or market or currency) falling or likely to fall in value wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly. obsolete
"A Knight soft ryding towards them they spyde"
Adverb
- 1 in a relaxed manner; or without hardship wordnet
Intj
- 1 Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast. archaic
"Soft, you; a word or two before you go. But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?"
Example
"The air is soft, the soil moist."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "soft"?
Common synonyms include: gentle, lenient, mild, accented, accepting, adoring.
How do you use "soft" in a sentence?
The air is soft, the soil moist.
How do you pronounce "soft"?
Pronounced /sɒft/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte (“softly”), from Proto-West Germanic *samftō (“softly”).