softly

soft  (sôft, sft)

adj. soft·er, soft·est

1.

a. Easily molded, cut, or worked.

b. Yielding readily to pressure or weight.

2. Out of condition; flabby.

3. Smooth or fine to the touch: a soft fabric.

4.

a. Not loud, harsh, or irritating: a soft voice.

b. Not brilliant or glaring; subdued: soft colors.

5. Not sharply drawn or delineated: soft charcoal shading; a scene filmed in soft focus.

6. Mild; balmy: a soft breeze.

7.

a. Of a gentle disposition; tender.

b. Affectionate: a soft glance.

c. Attracted or emotionally involved: He has been soft on her for years.

d. Not stern; lenient.

e. Lacking strength of character; weak.

f. Informal Simple-minded; foolish.

8.

a. Informal Easy: a soft job.

b. Based on conciliation or negotiation rather than on threats or power plays: took a soft line toward their opponents.

c. Gradually declining in trend; not firm: a soft economy; a soft computer market.

9. Informal and entertaining without confronting difficult issues or hard facts: limited the discussion to soft topics.

10. Using or based on data that is not readily quantifiable or amenable to experimental verification or refutation: The lawyer downplayed the soft evidence.

11. Softcore.

12. Being a turn in a specific direction at an angle less acute than other possible routes: a soft right.

13. Of or relating to a paper currency as distinct from a hard currency backed by gold.

14. Having low dissolved mineral content.

15. Having a low or lower power of penetration: soft x-rays.

16. Linguistics

a. Sibilant rather than guttural, as c in certain and g in gem.

b. Voiced and weakly articulated: a soft consonant.

c. Palatalized, as certain consonants in Slavic languages.

17. Unprotected against or vulnerable to attack: a soft target.

n.

A soft object or part.

adv.

In a soft manner; gently.

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[Middle English, pleasant, calm, from Old English sfte.]

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softly adv.

softness n.

Thesaurus

Adv.	1.	softly - with low volume; "speak softly but carry a big stick"; "she spoke quietly to the child"; "the radio was playing softly" quietly loud, loudly, aloud - with relatively high volume; "the band played loudly"; "she spoke loudly and angrily"; "he spoke loud enough for those at the back of the room to hear him"; "cried aloud for help"
	2.	softly - in a manner that is pleasing to the senses; "she smiled softly"
	3.	softly - with little weight or force; "she kissed him lightly on the forehead" gently, lightly
	4.	softly - used as a direction in music; to be played relatively softly piano

Translations

softly [ˈsɒftlɪ] ADV

1. (= quietly) [walk, move] → silenciosamente, sin hacer ruido; [say] → bajito, en voz baja; [whistle] → bajito
he closed the door softly → cerró la puerta silenciosamente
he swore softly → dijo una palabrota en voz baja, susurró una palabrota
the radio was playing softly in the kitchen → la radio sonaba bajito en la cocina
a softly spoken young man → un joven de voz suave

2. (= gently) [touch, tap, kiss] → suavemente; [smile] → con ternura, dulcemente; [say] → dulcemente

3. (= not brightly) [glow, gleam, shine] → tenuemente
softly lit → iluminado con luz tenue

softly [ˈsɒftli] adv

(= gently) [touch, stroke, kiss] → doucement

(= quietly) [speak, whisper, laugh, play] → doucement

(= not brightly) [shine, glow] → doucement
soft margarine n → margarine facile à tartiner)f >

softly

adv

(= gently, tenderly) → sanft; (= not loud) → leise; rain, blow → leicht, sacht; her hair falls softly round her shoulders → ihr Haar fällt weich auf die Schultern; a softly blowing breeze → ein sanfter or schwacher Wind; softly whipped cream → leicht geschlagene Sahne; to be softly spoken → eine angenehme Stimme haben; softly lit → gedämpft beleuchtet

(= leniently) → nachsichtig

softly [ˈsɒftlɪ] adv (gen) → dolcemente; (walk) → silenziosamente; (gently, knock) → lievemente