soft

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sŏft, IPA(key): /sɒft/ (Conservative RP, MLE) IPA(key): /sɔːft/ (General American) enPR: sôft, IPA(key): /sɔft/ (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /sɑft/, enPR: sŏft (Texas, obsolete) enPR: săft, IPA(key): /sæft/ Rhymes: -ɒft === 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. ==== Adjective ==== soft (comparative softer, superlative softest) Easily giving way under pressure. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:soft Antonyms: hard, resistant, solid, stony (of cloth or similar material) Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh. Synonyms: fluffy, non-abrasive Antonyms: abrasive, scratchy (of a sound) Quiet. Synonym: quiet Antonym: loud Gentle. Synonyms: gentle, light, nesh Antonyms: harsh, rough, strong Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind. soft eyes Gentle in action or motion; easy. Limp, weak. Weak in character; impressible. Requiring little or no effort; easy. Not bright or intense. soft lighting Having a slight angle from straight. Near-synonym: acute (geometry) Antonym: hard (phonetics) Voiced; sonant; lenis. (phonetics, rare) Voiceless. (Slavic, phonology) Palatalized. (slang) Excessively empathetic or concerned about others’ wellbeing. (slang) Lacking strength or resolve; not tough, wimpy. Synonyms: meek, mild, nesh, wimpy Antonyms: firm, strict, tough (of water) Low in dissolved calcium compounds. Antonym: hard (UK, colloquial) Foolish. Synonyms: daft, foolish, silly, stupid; see also Thesaurus:foolish Antonym: sensible (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) (of a person) Physically or emotionally weak. see: snowflake and softie (UK, of a man) Effeminate. Synonyms: epicene, fruity, swish; see also Thesaurus:feminine Agreeable to the senses. a soft liniment soft wines (UK, slang, dated) Agreeable generally; pleasant. 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 (photography, of light) Made up of nonparallel rays, tending to wrap around a subject and produce diffuse shadows. Incomplete, or temporary; not a full action. (computing) Emulated with software; not physically real. (of a drug) Not likely to cause addiction. (of a drink) Not containing alcohol. Antonyms: alcoholic, hard Easy-going, lenient, not strict; permissive. Synonyms: easy, lax, soft-handed; see also Thesaurus:lenient Antonym: hard soft on crime (finance) Of a market: having more supply than demand; being a buyer's market. Antonym: hard (of pornography) Softcore Antonyms: hard, hardcore (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 Of paper: unsized. Of silk: having the natural gum cleaned or washed off. Of coal: bituminous, as opposed to anthracitic. Of weather: warm enough to melt ice; thawing. (informal, idiomatic, followed by on) Attracted to or emotionally involved with someone. (UK, slang) Fake; counterfeit. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ===== See also ===== mollify ==== Interjection ==== soft (archaic) Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast. ==== Noun ==== soft (countable and uncountable, plural softs) (countable, archaic) A soft-headed or foolish person; an idiot. A soft drink. (countable, motor racing) A tyre whose compound is softer than mediums, and harder than supersofts. (countable, colloquial) A soft sound or part of a sound. (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. (UK, slang, obsolete, uncountable) Banknotes. === Etymology 2 === From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte (“softly”), from Proto-West Germanic *samftō (“softly”). ==== Adverb ==== soft (comparative more soft, superlative most soft) (obsolete) Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly. === References === === Anagrams === TOFs, FOTs == Czech == === Etymology === Borrowed from English soft(ware). === Noun === soft m inan (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 ==== === Further reading === “soft”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech) “soft”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989 “soft”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026 == Dutch == === Etymology === Borrowed from English soft. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /sɔft/ Hyphenation: bio‧me‧disch === Adjective === soft (comparative softer, superlative softst) soft, gentle ==== Declension ==== == French == === Etymology === Borrowed from English soft. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /sɔft/ === Noun === soft m (plural softs) (sexuality) soft porn (computing, uncountable) software (computing, countable) a piece of software === Adjective === soft (plural softs) softcore (pornography) == Italian == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English soft. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈsɔft/ Rhymes: -ɔft Hyphenation: sòft === Adjective === soft (invariable) soft (tone etc.; temporary (computing)) === References === == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from English software. === Noun === soft n (plural softuri) software ==== Declension ==== == Swedish == === Etymology === From English soft. === Adjective === soft (comparative softare, superlative softast) (slang) nice or laid-back; chill Antonym: osoft ==== Declension ==== ==== Related terms ==== softa === References === Slangopedia