noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The process of making something soft.
2. 2
   the process of becoming softer wordnet
3. 3
   The process of becoming soft.

Verb

1. 1
   present participle and gerund of soften form-of, gerund, participle, present

Adjective

1. 1
   having a softening or soothing effect especially to the skin wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

emollientabatementabatingallayingallaymentalleviating

Example

More examples

"The Wolf cried out to her, softening his voice a little:— "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up.""

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English softenynge, softynand, equivalent to soften + -ing.

Etymology 2

From Middle English softenyng, softenynge, equivalent to soften + -ing.

Related phrases

water softening

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.