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softheartedness

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state or condition of being softhearted; sentimental tenderness.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a feeling of concern for the welfare of someone (especially someone defenseless)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

softhearted +‎ -ness

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Examples

  • A hardheadedness, but also a high-mindedness and softheartedness, seems to be at work.

    Gen Next and the Culture Wars William Harryman 2007

  • Mumbling self-deprecations to his softheartedness, Dredd motioned for Gregory to follow him into the store.

    Fat Tuesday Brown, Sandra, 1948- 1997

  • Tamoszius made good wages; and little by little the family were paying back their debt to Marija, so she ought soon to have enough to start life upon -- only, with her preposterous softheartedness, she would insist upon spending a good part of her money every week for things which she saw they needed.

    The Jungle Upton Sinclair 1923

  • Tamoszius made good wages; and little by little the family were paying back their debt to Marija, so she ought soon to have enough to start life upon -- only, with her preposterous softheartedness, she would insist upon spending a good part of her money every week for things which she saw they needed.

    The Jungle 1906

  • Aulis, to give him his daughter as a sacrifice; but he did not give her, but by his softheartedness ruined the expedition, which ingloriously failed.

    Plutarch's Lives, Volume II 46-120? Plutarch 1839

  • As the agency that turns off the water if customers don't pay the bills, the Altoona City Authority doesn't enjoy a reputation for softheartedness.

    The Altoona Mirror 2009

  • As the agency that turns off the water if customers don't pay the bills, the Altoona City Authority doesn't enjoy a reputation for softheartedness.

    The Altoona Mirror 2009

  • The chief dissenting voice among them was Britain’s Douglas Haig, but not out of any softheartedness: he just thought the Allied military situation was a bit less ideal than his colleagues did, and so did not want the terms so harsh that the Germans might refuse them.

    How Wars end Gideon Rose 2010

  • a thief, with his "Gotts in Himmel" and his "Fräuleins" -- how Jean would laugh at her for her softheartedness!

    The Tin Soldier Temple Bailey

  • "These admonitions were followed by a dire curse on any one who was turned from his purpose by hope of life or by softheartedness.

    The History of Rome, Vol. IV 1905

Comments

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  • Anagram: often sheds tears

    January 13, 2010