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Soften   /sˈɑfən/  /sˈɔfən/   Listen
Soften

verb
(past & past part. softened; pres. part. softening)
1.
Make (images or sounds) soft or softer.
2.
Lessen in force or effect.  Synonyms: break, damp, dampen, weaken.  "Break a fall"
3.
Give in, as to influence or pressure.  Synonyms: relent, yield.
4.
Protect from impact.  Synonyms: buffer, cushion.
5.
Make less severe or harsh.  Synonyms: mince, moderate.
6.
Make soft or softer.
7.
Become soft or softer.



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WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Soften" Quotes from Famous Books



... The room is stark bare, save for two mattresses, a heap of disheveled bed clothes, and two men. The hours are small and the dim, guarded light, intended to soften, probably intensifies the weirdness of the picture. The suspiciously plain woodwork is enameled in a dull monochrome. The windows are guarded with protecting screens. One man, an attendant, lies orderly on his pallet; the other, a slender figure ...
— Our Nervous Friends - Illustrating the Mastery of Nervousness • Robert S. Carroll

... very clearly-defined belief that something was due to the great office to which he had been elevated. As preliminary, however, to accomplishing what was for the best interests of the people it must not be forgotten that "my first object was to soften down the public mind to its sober senses." That no living man was better qualified for the accomplishment of so praiseworthy a purpose will now appear: "It has been my opinion of my humble self, that whatever small forte I might possess was to conciliate ...
— Something of Men I Have Known - With Some Papers of a General Nature, Political, Historical, and Retrospective • Adlai E. Stevenson

... by Maxime de Brevan was different, and often contradictory even, but by no means more reassuring. His letters portrayed the perplexity and the hesitation of a man who is all anxiety to soften hard truths. According to him, the Countess Sarah and Miss Ville-Handry did not get on well with each other; but he declared he was bound to say that the wrong was all on the young lady's side, who ...
— The Clique of Gold • Emile Gaboriau

... the Cabbage Patch, and it was nearing Christmas again. The void left in Mrs. Wiggs's heart by Jim's death could never be filled, but time was beginning to soften her grief, and the necessity for steady employment kept her ...
— Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch • Alice Caldwell Hegan

... prosperity will appear in its conditioned existence and conditional value. A candle wasting itself before an image will prevent no misfortune, but it may bear witness to some silent hope or relieve some sorrow by expressing it; it may soften a little the bitter sense of impotence which would consume a mind aware of physical dependence but not of spiritual dominion. Worship, supplication, reliance on the gods, express both these things in an appropriate parable. Physical impotence is expressed by man's appeal for help; moral ...
— The Life of Reason • George Santayana


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