soft spot

1. A tender or sentimental feeling: has a soft spot for stray animals.

2. A weak or vulnerable point: a soft spot in the nation's defense strategy.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

soft spot

a sentimental fondness (esp in the phrase have a soft spot for)

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

soft′ spot`

1. a weak or vulnerable position, place, condition, etc.

2. emotional susceptibility: a soft spot for kittens.

[1835–45, Amer.]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	soft spot - a place of especial vulnerability weak part, weak spot weakness - the property of lacking physical or mental strength; liability to failure under pressure or stress or strain; "his weakness increased as he became older"; "the weakness of the span was overlooked until it collapsed" Achilles' heel - a seemingly small but actual mortal weakness jugular - a vital part that is vulnerable to attack; "he always goes for the jugular" underbelly - the quality of being weak or unprotected; "the soft underbelly of the Axis"- Winston Churchill
	2.	soft spot - a sentimental affection; "she had a soft spot for her youngest son" affection, affectionateness, philia, warmness, warmheartedness, fondness, tenderness, heart - a positive feeling of liking; "he had trouble expressing the affection he felt"; "the child won everyone's heart"; "the warmness of his welcome made us feel right at home"
	3.	soft spot - any membranous gap between the bones of the cranium in an infant or fetus fontanel, fontanelle child's body - the body of a human child orifice, porta, opening - an aperture or hole that opens into a bodily cavity; "the orifice into the aorta from the lower left chamber of the heart" braincase, brainpan, cranium - the part of the skull that encloses the brain anterior fontanelle - corresponds to the bregma when bones have ossified sphenoid fontanel, sphenoid fontanelle, sphenoidal fontanel, sphenoidal fontanelle - the irregularly shaped area on either side of the cranium where the frontal bone and the anterior tip of the parietal bone and the temporal bone and the greater wing of the sphenoid bone meet; corresponds to the pterion when bones have ossified

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References in classic literature

"No, but the soft spot's there," was the grim reply.

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His appetite for facts was capacious, and although many of those which he noted would have seemed woefully dry and colorless to the ordinary sentimental traveler, a careful inspection of the list would have shown that he had a soft spot in his imagination.

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It is certainly a soft spot to fall on and a sweet spot to look at.

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"Does it ever seem to you, Terence, that the world is composed entirely of vast blocks of matter, and that we're nothing but patches of light--" she looked at the soft spots of sun wavering over the carpet and up the wall--"like that?"

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In April, nine teachers' federations also trooped to the OP to file a letter asking the President, the son of a public school teacher, to tap into the 'soft spot in your heart' for those in the vocation.

Teachers to Duterte: Act on pay hike now

Olly said: "He's a surfer dude with a sensitive streak who develops a soft spot for Dolly when the characters head to Cornwall for a summer holiday.

Dog's life for Ollie; SQUARE EYES

That's one soft spot - another one was on Wednesday night, when the Reds went to Turf Moor.

Bournemouth and Burnley help us retain the game's authenticity

And although former West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City boss Pulis has a "soft spot" for the forward he has helped develop since stepping into the Riverside Stadium hotseat, he understands that Boro would not be able to turn down a substantial bid for the star.

Boro boss: We will let Traore go if price right

James Bay treated a sell-out crow to both old and new material 'EVERY show is special but this one is a little bit more special, I've got a soft spot for this city.' James Bay was clearly glad to be back in Newcastle.

The love flows both ways as Bay mixes it up

Upon my request to deviate 60 miles north to clear that end of the storm, an Evansville Approach controller advised me that a 20-degree turn toward the south would send me through a soft spot and back on my way more quickly.

Who Do You Trust?

Soft Spot of My Heart is an emotional, Lisbon-inspired music album by jazz songwriter Eleanor Dubinsky.

Soft Spot of My Heart

Will telling him I used to have a soft spot for him stop the dreams?

I tell friend I love him but it's only in my dreams