A soft or foolish person; an idiot.
"The new manager called our senior engineer a soft for missing such a simple deadline, even though he was clearly just exhausted from working late nights."
In plain English: A soft noun is something that has a gentle, squishy texture you can feel with your hands.
"The baby cried for her soft during nap time."
Usage: The term "soft" is rarely used as a noun in modern English to mean a foolish person. Instead, this outdated slang should be avoided entirely in favor of clearer terms like "fool" or "idiot."
yielding readily to pressure or weight
"The pillow felt wonderfully soft, molding perfectly to my head as soon as I lay down."
(of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward the hard palate; characterized by a hissing or hushing sound (as `s' and `sh')
"The linguist explained that the 's' and 'sh' sounds are soft because they are made by directing air over the teeth with the tongue near the roof of the mouth."
(of a commodity or market or currency) falling or likely to fall in value
"the market for computers is soft"
using evidence not readily amenable to experimental verification or refutation
"soft data"
"the soft sciences"
willing to negotiate and compromise
"The veteran negotiator decided to be soft on his initial demands once he realized our company had a limited budget."
Easily giving way under pressure.
"The old sofa cushions were so soft that they sank deep when I sat down."
In plain English: Soft describes something that is easy to press, touch, or bite without hurting.
"The pillow was very soft and comfortable to sleep on."
Usage: Use "soft" to describe physical objects that are pliable or compressible when touched, such as pillows or cushions. It also applies to sounds that lack harshness and to textures like skin or food that are tender rather than firm.
Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.
"She hummed a soft melody as she rocked the baby to sleep."
In plain English: To be soft means to do something gently or without being harsh.
"The pianist played the gentle melody very softly."
Usage: Use "soft" as an adverb only in informal speech to mean gently or quietly, though standard English prefers "softly." For example, say "speak soft" casually but write "speak softly" in formal contexts.
Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.
"When he tried to take her coat, she softly held his wrist and shook her head no."
The word "soft" comes from the Old English sōfte, which originally meant level, even, or smooth before evolving to describe a gentle texture. It traces its roots back to Proto-Indo-European forms related to wholeness and oneness, sharing distant relatives with words like German sanft and West Frisian sêft.