to soften

Examples

• All

• Doesn't the look of desperation in my eyes soften your mood just a little?

  Kismet (1944)

• Laborites, however, felt they had found a force to soften the cold inequalities of the market.

  Academic text (2003)

• Told her it would soften him up.

  Brick (2006)

• I do hope that he could read between the lines and know that I'd soften slightly and like let him in a bit.

• I had to believe that once Ruby saw that I was a friend, it would soften her up.

  Jack Lyon: Veterans Serving Veterans (2013)

• Take that chip off your shoulder, soften, have that desire in your heart to really make a change.

• The Chinese American community similarly took note of and appeared to soften its opposition to intercultural couples.

  Academic text (2003)

• American political culture has already softened up the ground for the darker possibilities of these technological developments.

  Academic text (1997)

• I think what I'm trying to convey to people is it's worth softening our grip on the default path.

• May kindness resound in our voice, softening the way that lies ahead.

Synonyms

C

to come around

vsto soften

130 4.1

To change your mind and accept something you first refused

describes yielding to influence rather than just later agreement

Y

to yield

vsto soften

74 4.3

To stop resisting under pressure or force

focuses on changing opinion or attitude because of influence

R

to relent

vsto soften

33 5.8

To stop resisting and allow something to happen, like a person giving in or a storm easing

is about growing more willing to change under influence

C

to change someone's tune

vsto soften

• Informal

20 5.0

To have a different opinion after seeing new facts or benefits

emphasizes yielding to pressure rather than reacting to facts

M

to modify

vsto soften

2 3.5

Make something less strong or harsh

applies to becoming more open to change rather than to objects

C

to change one's tune

vsto soften

• Informal

5.1

To show a different opinion after you were against it before

means a willingness to change gradually under outside pressure

Antonyms

H

to harden

49 2.6

Make something hard or solid

Idioms

S

to soften the blow

• Informal

9 4.7

Make bad news or a loss easier to accept

Phrasal Verbs

S

to soften up

• Informal

26 3.9

To make someone more willing to agree or make something easier to bend

S

to soften someone's cough

6.1

Make a person's cough less strong and easier to stop

How Willing

to give in

187 3.0

to soften

17 3.3

to waver

34 5.7

to hesitate

301 2.5

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology