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Glite Dictionary
❤️ Strong affection 🎯 A weak point 👶 A baby's skull gap
soft spot

soft spot

2 6.1
A soft area on a baby's head where the skull bones have not joined
  • noun
  • /sɔft spɑt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fontanela
  • With her cheek to Isaac's soft spot, she could feel his brain pulse.
  • soft spot on the head

So we're all, we're all born with soft spots in our heads.

Examples

  • As the baby grew, the soft spot on her head gradually closed, indicating healthy development.

  • " You think?" The nurse ran one careful finger over the soft spot in the top of her head.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "You have to be careful of the soft spot, the fontanel."

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Now my son may have to have brain surgery because his soft spot fused too early.

    Blog text (12)

  • Babies have soft spots.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • In addition to these symptoms, infants may have bulging at the soft spots in the skull.

    Blog text (12)

  • The pediatrician explained that the soft spot on a baby's head is important for brain growth.

  • During the check-up, the doctor gently touched the soft spot to ensure it was normal.

Synonyms

fontanel
vssoft spot
  • Specialized
2 9.2

A soft spot on a baby's head where the skull bones do not yet meet

is the identical anatomical gap given with a different short form name
fontanelle
vssoft spot
  • Specialized
1 9.6

A soft spot on a baby's head where the skull bones are not yet joined

is the same structure but presented under the other name

Surface Forms

soft spot singular
soft spots plural

Morphology

soft + spot

The components 'soft' (tender, not hard) and 'spot' (place) can be compositionally combined to suggest a 'place that is tender' — a metaphorical locus of tenderness or weakness. However, the shift to meanings like 'a weakness/area of vulnerability' or 'a fondness for someone/something' requires a figurative extension that is not strictly predictable from the literal parts, so a B1 learner would only partly infer the sense without prior exposure.

Etymology

Soft spot originally names the soft area on a newborn's head where the skull bones have not yet joined, a literal soft spot that doctors check.