adjective

1. giving way easily under pressure, as a feather pillow or moist clay
2. easily cut, marked, shaped, or worn away, as pine wood or pure gold
3. not hard for its kind; not as hard as is normal, desirable, etc. soft butter
4. smooth or fine to the touch; not rough, harsh, or coarse
5. 1. bland; not acid, sour, or sharp
   2. easy to digest because free from roughage: said of a diet
6. nonalcoholic: said of drinks
7. having in solution few or none of the mineral salts that interfere with the lathering and cleansing properties of soap: said of water
8. mild, gentle, or temperate, as a breeze, the weather, climate, etc.
9. 1. weak or delicate; not strong or vigorous; esp., not able to endure hardship, as because of easy living
   2. having flabby muscles
10. requiring little effort; easy a soft job
11. 1. kind or gentle, esp. to the point of weakness; lenient or compassionate
    2. easily impressed, influenced, or imposed upon
12. not bright, intense, or glaring; subdued: said of color or light
13. showing little contrast or distinctness; not sharp in lines, tones, focus, etc., as a photograph
14. gentle; low; not loud or harsh: said of sound
15. based on data from interviews, surveys, etc., rather than from controlled, repeatable experiments soft evidence, soft sciences such as sociology
16. replenished by nature, or capable of being used with relatively little damage to the natural environment solar power is a soft energy source
17. providing information other than the basic facts of a news story features are soft news
18. Finance
    1. unstable and declining: said of a market, prices, etc.
    2. not readily accepted as foreign exchange: said of certain currencies
    3. having very favorable terms: said of a loan
19. Mil. above ground and vulnerable: said of targets or bases
20. Phonet.: not used in these ways as a technical term by phoneticians
    1. designating c sounded as in voice or g sounded as in age
    2. voiced
    3. palatalized, as certain consonants in Slavic languages are
21. Radiology of low penetrating power: said of X-rays

Etymology: ME < OE softe, gentle, quiet < sefte, akin to Ger sanft < IE base *sem-, together, together with > smooth, same: basic sense “fitting, friendly, suited to”

adverb

noun

interjection

1. be quiet; hush
2. slow up; stop