soft
 soft (sôft, sŏft)adj. soft·er, soft·est
1.
a. Easily molded, cut, or worked.
b. Yielding readily to pressure or weight.
2. Out of condition; flabby.
3. Smooth or fine to the touch:
a soft fabric.
4.
a. Not loud, harsh, or irritating:
a soft voice.
b. Not brilliant or glaring; subdued:
soft colors.
5. Not sharply drawn or delineated:
soft charcoal shading; a scene filmed in soft focus.
6. Mild; balmy:
a soft breeze.
7.
a. Of a gentle disposition; tender.
b. Affectionate:
a soft glance.
c. Attracted or emotionally involved:
He has been soft on her for years.
d. Not stern; lenient.
e. Lacking strength of character; weak.
f. Informal. Simple; feeble.
g. Gradually declining in trend; not firm:
a soft economy; a soft computer market.
8.
a. Informal. Easy:
a soft job.
b. Based on conciliation or negotiation rather than on threats or power plays:
took a soft line toward their opponents.
9. Informal and entertaining without confronting difficult issues or hard facts:
limited the discussion to soft topics.
10. Using or based on data that is not readily quantifiable or amenable to experimental verification or refutation:
The lawyer downplayed the soft evidence.
11. Being a turn in a specific direction at an angle less acute than other possible routes:
a soft right.
12. Of or relating to a paper currency as distinct from a hard currency backed by gold.
13. Having low dissolved mineral content.
14. Having a low or lower power of penetration:
soft x-rays.
15. Linguistics.
a. Sibilant rather than guttural, as c in certain and g in gem.
b. Voiced and weakly articulated:
a soft consonant.
c. Palatalized, as certain consonants in Slavic languages.
16. Unprotected against nuclear attack:
soft missile launching sites; a soft target.n.
A soft object or part.adv.
In a soft manner; gently. [Middle English, pleasant, calm, from Old English sōfte.] softʹly adv.softʹness n.
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