soften
English
Etymology
From Middle English softenen, softnen, equivalent to soft + -en.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɒfən/, enPR: sŏf′en
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈsɔf(t)ən/, enPR: sôf′en
- (US, cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈsɑf(t)ən/, enPR: sŏf′en
Audio (US) (file)
Verb
soften (third-person singular simple present softens, present participle softening, simple past and past participle softened)
- (transitive) To make something soft or softer.
- Soften the butter before beating in the sugar.
- (transitive) To undermine the morale of someone (often soften up).
- Before the invasion, we softened up the enemy with the artillery.
- (transitive) To make less harsh
- Having second thoughts, I softened my criticism.
- 2015 February 7, Helen Yemm, “Thorny problems: How can I soften a brick wall with plants?”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G7:
- I have recently reclad the south-west facing side of my single-storey cottage […] . I now want to plant some climbers of more manageable proportions to soften the building.
- (intransitive) To become soft or softer
- The butter softened as it warmed up.
- (transitive, intransitive, phonology) To become or make (a consonant) more lenis, to lenite.
- (Slavic phonology) To palatalize.
Derived terms
- soften the ground
- softener
Translations
(transitive) To make something soft or softer
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(transitive) To undermine the morale of someone (often soften up)
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(transitive) To make less harsh
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(intransitive) To become soft or softer
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See also
- mollify
- neshen
Anagrams
- Sefton