soft

soft: soft soft [sɒft ǁ sɒːft] adjective

1. COMMERCE soft goods are used up soon after they are bought, for example food products:

• Ohio's manufacturing base covers a wide range of soft and hard goods.

• a soft-commodity trader

2. FINANCE soft loans or soft credit is money that is lent at a lower interest rate than normal, usually because it is for a project that is to be encouraged, for example a new business in an area of high unemployment:

• The fund was authorized to help the market by providing soft loans to institutional investors.

• The mills got $73 million in soft credit to keep their gates open.

3. ECONOMICS a soft market or economy has prices that are falling because supply is greater than demand:

• How do you sell your house in a soft market?

• Our results continue to be adversely affected by a very soft regional economy.

4. MARKETING if sales, orders, demand etc are soft, there are not as many sales, orders etc or as much demand as usual:

• Many retailers experienced soft sales in May and June.

• The newspaper industry was suffering from a very soft demand for ad space.

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soft UK US /sɒft/ adjective

► STOCK MARKET, FINANCE used to describe a market in which prices are not rising or are going down: »Its products may be good, but they cost a lot of money, which makes them difficult to sell in a soft market.
»Deepening soft market conditions make profitable growth difficult to maintain.

→ Compare HARD(Cf. ↑hard)

► ECONOMICS used to describe prices, demand, sales, etc. that are not increasing or that are falling: »The industry is generally struggling with soft prices and expensive running costs.
»Domestic demand is soft and the Fed could cut interest rates further.

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Synonyms:

Impressible, yielding / Gentle, easy, quiet, undisturbed / Effeminate, unmanly, nice, luxurious / Simple, silly, foolish, weak / Quiet, delicate / Mellifluous, dulcet, clear, flowing, smooth, gentle, melodious, pleasing, Gently, quietly, softly, Hold, stop, not so fast / Plastic, pliable, easily moulded, malleable / Smooth, delicate, fine / Compliant, submissive, irresolute, facile, flexible, impressible, weak, undecided / Mild, gentle, bland, kind, lenient, tender / Tender, timid, timorous, fearful, shy / Civil, complaisant, courteous, polite, polished / Delicate, tender / Gentle, steady, even, smooth-going, easy, quiet

Look at other dictionaries:

soft — soft … Dictionnaire des rimes
soft — W2S2 [sɔft US so:ft] adj comparative softer superlative softest ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(not hard)¦ 2¦(not rough)¦ 3¦(not loud)¦ 4¦(colour/light)¦ 5¦(no hard edges)¦ 6¦(rain/wind)¦ 7¦(not strict)¦ … Dictionary of contemporary English
Soft — (s[o^]ft; 115), a. [Compar. {Softer} (s[o^]ft [ e]r); superl. {Softest}.] [OE. softe, AS. s[=o]fte, properly adv. of s[=e]fte, adj.; akin to OS. s[=a]fto, adv., D. zacht, OHG. samfto, adv., semfti, adj., G. sanft, LG. sacht; of uncertain origin.] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
soft´ly — soft «sft, soft», adjective, adverb, noun, interjection. –adj. 1. a) not hard; yielding readily to touch or pressure: »a soft tomato, soft ground, a soft bed. b) easily bent without breaking; not stiff; flexible: »Oil keeps leather soft.… … Useful english dictionary
soft — [ sɔft ] adjective *** ▸ 1 not stiff/firm/rough ▸ 2 gentle/pleasant ▸ 3 kind/sympathetic/gentle ▸ 4 not difficult ▸ 5 about water ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) a soft substance is easy to press or shape and is not hard or firm: George tripped, falling into… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
soft — adj Soft, bland, mild, gentle, smooth, lenient, balmy are applied to things with respect to the sensations they evoke or the impressions they produce and mean pleasantly agreeable because devoid of all harshness or roughness. Soft is applied… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
soft — [sôft, säft] adj. [ME < OE softe, gentle, quiet < sefte, akin to Ger sanft < IE base * sem , together, together with > SMOOTH, SAME: basic sense “fitting, friendly, suited to”] 1. giving way easily under pressure, as a feather pillow… … English World dictionary
soft — agg.inv. ES ingl. {{wmetafile0}} 1. che ha caratteri o toni sfumati, tenui, attenuati: film soft, illuminazione soft, arredamento dalla linea soft 2. che comunica sensazioni gradevoli, piacevoli o rilassanti: musica soft, atmosfera, ambiente soft … Dizionario italiano
soft — sȯft adj 1) yielding to physical pressure 2) deficient in or free from substances (as calcium and magnesium salts) that prevent lathering of soap <soft water> 3) having relatively low energy <soft X rays> 4) BIODEGRADABLE <soft… … Medical dictionary
soft — Adj weich, sanft per. Wortschatz fremd. Erkennbar fremd (20. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus ne. soft, das mit sanft verwandt ist. Unter Software werden in der EDV Technik die nicht unmittelbar zu den Geräten gehörigen Gebrauchsteile (Programme usw … Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

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