soften

soft·en  (sôfn, sfn)

v. soft·ened, soft·en·ing, soft·ens

v.tr.

1. To make soft or softer.

2. To undermine or reduce the strength, morale, or resistance of.

3. To make less harsh, strident, or critical: softened the last paragraph of the letter.

v.intr.

To become soft or softer.

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soften·er n.

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soften [ˈsɒf^ən]

vb

1. to make or become soft or softer

2. to make or become gentler

3. (Business / Commerce) (intr) Commerce

a.  (of demand, a market, etc.) to weaken

b.  (of a price) to fall

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soften

• emollient, emolliate - Emollient is from Latin emolliere, "to soften"; to emolliate is to soften or make effeminate.
• macerate - Meaning "to soften," it comes from Greek massein, "knead."
• lenify, lenity - To lenify is to alleviate or soothe an emotion or suffering, from Latin lenire, "soften"; lenity means kindness or gentleness.
• amalgamate - Seems to go back to Greek malagma, "softening."

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	soften - make (images or sounds) soft or softer change intensity - increase or decrease in intensity damp, mute, tone down, muffle, dampen, dull - deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping sharpen - make (images or sounds) sharp or sharper
	2.	soften - lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall" damp, weaken, dampen, break blunt, deaden - make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation; "Terror blunted her feelings"; "deaden a sound" deafen - make soundproof; "deafen a room" deaden, damp, dampen - make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible; "muffle the message"
	3.	soften - give in, as to influence or pressure relent, yield truckle - yield to out of weakness
	4.	soften - protect from impact; "cushion the blow" cushion, buffer modify - make less severe or harsh or extreme; "please modify this letter to make it more polite"; "he modified his views on same-gender marriage"
	5.	soften - make less severe or harsh; "He moderated his tone when the students burst out in tears" mince, moderate alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue"
	6.	soften - make soft or softer; "This liquid will soften your laundry" alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" mellow - soften, make mellow; "Age and experience mellowed him over the years" mollify - make less rigid or softer macerate - soften, usually by steeping in liquid, and cause to disintegrate as a result; "macerate peaches"; "the gizzards macerates the food in the digestive system" harden, indurate - make hard or harder; "The cold hardened the butter"
	7.	soften - become soft or softer; "The bread will soften if you pour some liquid on it" change - undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night" mellow - make or grow (more) mellow; "These apples need to mellow a bit more"; "The sun mellowed the fruit" macerate - become soft or separate and disintegrate as a result of excessive soaking; "the tissue macerated in the water" harden, indurate - become hard or harder; "The wax hardened"

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soften

verb

1. melt, tenderize Soften the butter mixture in a small saucepan.

2. lessen, moderate, diminish, temper, lower, relax, ease, calm, modify, cushion, soothe, subdue, alleviate, lighten, quell, muffle, allay, mitigate, abate, tone down, assuage He could not think how to soften the blow of what he had to tell her.

soften someone up win over, weaken, disarm, soft-soap (informal), work on, melt, conciliate If they'd treated you well it was only to soften you up.

Translations

soften [ˈsɒfn]

A. VT

1. (= make less hard) [+ butter, ground, metal, leather, water] → ablandar

2. (= make smooth) [+ fabric, skin, hair] → suavizar

3. (= make gentle) [+ sound, outline] → suavizar; [+ lights, lighting] → hacer más tenue; [+ person] → ablandar

4. (= mitigate) [+ effect, reaction] → mitigar, atenuar
to soften the blow (fig) → amortiguar el golpe

B. VI

1. (= become less hard) [butter, ground, metal] → ablandarse

2. (= become smooth) [fabric, skin, hair] → suavizarse

3. (= become gentle) [voice, outline] → suavizarse; [lighting] → hacerse más tenue; [person] → ablandarse
her heart softened → se le ablandó el corazón

4. (= become moderate) [effect] → mitigarse, atenuarse; [attitude] → suavizarse, moderarse

soften up

A. VT + ADV [+ resistance] → debilitar

B. VI + ADV to soften up on sb → volverse menos severo con algn
we must not soften up on communism → debemos seguir tan opuestos como siempre al comunismo

soften [ˈsɒf^ən]

vt

(= make less hard or rough) [+ onions, butter] → faire ramollir, ramollir; [+ ground] → ramollir; [+ fabric, leather, skin] → assouplir

(= make less bright) [+ light, colour] → adoucir

(= make more gentle) [+ tone, voice, expression] → adoucir

(= make less severe) [+ impact, shock] → atténuer

(= make more sympathetic) [+ policy, position] → assouplir; [+ face] → adoucir
The memory of their initial meeting softened her face → Le souvenir de leur première rencontre adoucit ses traits.

vi

(= become less hard or rough) [skin, leather] → s'assouplir; [onions, butter, ice-cream] → ramollir
I'm waiting for the ice-cream to soften → J'attends que la glace ramollisse.

(= become less bright) [light, colour] → s'adoucir

(= become more gentle) [voice, expression] → s'adoucir

(= become more sympathetic) [attitude, position] → s'assouplir; [character, face] → s'adoucir
His mother's face softened a little → Le visage de sa mère s'adoucit un peu.

soften

vt → weich machen; water also → enthärten; light, sound, colour → dämpfen; effect, sb’s anger, reaction, impression, tone → mildern; outline → weicher machen; image → weich zeichnen; voice → sanfter machen; resistance, opposition, sb’s position, stance → schwächen; demands, impact → abschwächen

vi (material, person, heart) → weich werden; (voice, look) → sanft werden; (anger, resistance) → nachlassen; (outlines) → weicher werden

soften [ˈsɒfn]

1. vt (gen) → ammorbidire; (light) → attenuare; (sound, impression) → attutire; (colour, anger) → smorzare; (resistance) → fiaccare; (person, weaken) → addolcire
he became softened by luxurious living → vivendo nel lusso si è rammollito
to soften the blow (fig) → attutire il colpo

2. vi (see vt) → ammorbidirsi, attenuarsi, attutirsi, smorzarsi, fiaccarsi; (person, character) → addolcirsi
her heart softened → si intenerì

soften up vt + adv (fam) to soften sb up → ammorbidire qn