Yielding readily to pressure; easily penetrated; impressible; yielding: opposed to hard: as, a soft bed; a soft apple; soft earth; soft wood; a soft mineral; easily susceptible of change of form; hence, easily worked; malleable: as, soft iron; lead is softer than gold.Affecting the senses in a mild, smooth, bland, delicate, or agreeable manner.Mild and agreeable; gentle; genial; kindly.Smooth; flowing; not rough or vehement; not harsh; gentle or melodious to the ear: as, a soft sound; soft accents; soft whispers.Not harsh or offensive to the sight; mild to the eye; not strong or glaring; not exciting by intensity of color or violent contrast: as, soft colors; the soft coloring of a picture.Bituminous, as opposed to anthracitic: said of coal.Nearly free from lime or magnesia salts, and therefore forming a lather with soap without leaving a curd-like deposit: said of water.Unsized: as, soft paper.Mild: noting the weather.Moist; wet or rainy: as, a soft day.Warm enough to melt snow or ice; thawing.In phonetics, pronounced with more or less of a sibilant sound and without explosive utterance, as c in cinder as opposed to c in candle, g in gin as opposed to g in gift; also often used instead of sonant or voiced or the like for an alphabetic sound uttered with tone.Tender; delicate.Effeminate; lacking manliness, hardiness, or courage; easy to overcome; gentle.Easily persuaded, moved, or acted upon; impressible; hence, facile; weak; simple; foolish; silly.Slack; easy-going; without care or anxiety.Mild; gentle; kind; sympathetic; easily touched or moved; susceptible; tender; merciful; courteous; not rough, rude, or irritating: as, soft manners.Easy; gentle; steady and even, especially in action or motion.In anatomy, not bony, cartilaginous, dentinal, etc.: as, the soft parts or soft tissues of the body: not specific.When noting silk, having the natural gum removed by cleaning or washing: distinguished from hard.In ichthyology, not spinous; soft-rayed: noting fins or fin-rays: as, a soft dorsal or anal (fin). See soft-finned, and cut under Malacopterygii.In conchology and herpetology, soft-shelled.In Crustacea, soft-shelled.Synonyms Plastic, pliable.Mellifluous, dulcet.Compliant, submissive, irresolute.and Mild, Bland, etc. See gentle.n. A soft or silly person; a person who is weak or foolish; a fool. Also softy.n. In United States politics: A member or an adherent of that one of the two factions into which in 1852 and succeeding years the Democratic party in the State of New York was divided which was less favorable to the extension of slavery.n. A member of the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic party in Missouri about 1850. See hard, n., 5.Softly; gently; quietly.Go softly! hold! stop! not so fast!To soften; make soft.In archery, smooth and even in flexure and recoil: said of a bow.n. plural Rags of loosely woven or knitted goods, such as flannel, hosiery, etc.
