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soft

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Easy to press or change shape.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

sahft
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsɑft

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Easily giving way under pressure.

  2. of cloth or similar material

    Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.

  3. Gentle in action or motion; easy.

  4. of a sound

    Quiet.

  5. Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.

  6. Weak in character; impressible.

noun

  1. A soft drink.

  2. countablecolloquial

    A soft sound or part of a sound.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Easily giving way under pressure.

Used this way, soft is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Having a slight angle

soft tissue

Low

soft water

Other combinations

soft drinkssoft palatesoft spotsoft partssoft voicesoft iron

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • softnessnounDerived noun

    The property of giving little resistance to pressure and being easily cut or molded.

  • softlyadverbDerived adverb

    With low volume.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • soft-finnedadjectiveCompound term

    Of or relating to fish with soft fins.

  • soft-finned fishnounCompound term

    Any fish of the superorder Malacopterygii.

  • soft flagnounCompound term

    Reed maces of America, Europe, North Africa, Asia.

  • soft glassnounCompound term

    Glass having a relatively low softening point.

  • soft goodsnounCompound term

    Textiles or clothing and related merchandise.

  • soft ice creamnounCompound term

    Dessert resembling ice cream but with a boiled custard base.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • softenverbRelated term

    Make (images or sounds) soft or softer.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: easily giving way under pressure

weak

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.