softness
Americannoun
noun
-
the quality or an instance of being soft
-
metallurgy the tendency of a metal to distort easily See brittleness toughness
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Vocabulary lists containing softness
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Compared with a year earlier, overall employment in Canada is up by 99,000 jobs, and despite softness in June this has been led by a roughly 131,000 rise in full-time work and the private sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
In a securities filing, Hertz blamed “unexpected softness in the used car market” for driving up depreciation costs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Kay: The softness in Henry was a function of Kit playing the character and us writing to that vulnerability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
With shares recently showing signs of softness, investors are beginning to question whether the software rally can maintain its footing without clear leadership from its most influential name.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
They are lovely against the sky, she thought, so straight and free; Luke was wrong about the softness everywhere, because the trees are hard like wooden trees.
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
His touch was special, even in introductions and final flourishes; he built waves within his playing, revealing softnesses in his sound even while working intensely.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2013
The authors have not entirely evaded its treacherous softnesses.
From Time Magazine Archive
The circumstances being such as they were, there should be no family love, no fraternal sports, no softnesses, no mercy.
From Marion Fay by Trollope, Anthony
What Jefferson said of Madison was true of the Virginia orators in general,—“soothing always the feelings of his adversaries by civilities and softnesses of expression.”
From Thomas Jefferson by Merwin, Henry Childs
She had been married late in the preceding season and had gone away with Mr Palliser, spending her honeymoon amidst the softnesses of some Italian lake.
From Can You Forgive Her? by Trollope, Anthony
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.