Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person regarded as weak or sentimental.
- noun A person who finds it difficult to punish or be strict.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A soft or silly person. Also
softie .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
weak orsentimental person. - noun Somebody who finds it difficult to scold or punish.
- noun computing, slang A
software expert who isignorant of theworkings ofhardware .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a person who is weak and excessively sentimental
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The softy was a man who could hoard his hatred and vengeance, hiding the bad passions away in the dark corners of his poor shattered mind, and bringing them out in the dead of the night to "kiss and talk to," as the Moor's wife kissed and conversed with the strawberry-embroidered cambric.
Aurora Floyd. A Novel Mary Elizabeth 1863
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- Fernando R. MICKEY: Bree may come off like a brittle maneater, but at heart she's a real softy, which is why juggling an angry Orson and a horny Karl will really wear on her this fall.
TVGuide.com: Breaking News Matt Mitovich, Mickey O'Connor & Tim Molloy 2009
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You can call me names for being some kind of softy liberal, but it appears the Israelis and the old guard Republican eminences think Pelosi's trip was just the right medicine.
Dove's Eye View: 2007
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You hate being called a, 'softy' and you're always ready to 'bring it'.
"okay shredder! prepare to be turtle-ized! hehe!" daveberta 2005
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Stephen's father explained that as a young lad Stephen was sent to boarding school because he was in danger of becoming a 'softy'.
Chapter 5 - Trial 1987
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He refrained from including in his challenges of the jury the gentleman who was afterwards foreman; he knew he was all right, he said, because he parted his hair in the middle, a "softy," in fact.
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He dreaded being thought a "softy," and had even at times felt a kind of envy of the boys whose consciences did not trouble them if they swore, or indulged in sly smokes, or defiled their mouths with filthy quids.
Bert Lloyd's Boyhood A Story from Nova Scotia Joseph Finnemore 1881
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She was half inclined to beg her indulgent husband to pension him off, and send him to the other end of the county; but the next moment she was ashamed of her childish folly, and a few hours afterward had forgotten Steeve Hargraves, the "softy," as he was politely called in the stables.
Aurora Floyd. A Novel Mary Elizabeth 1863
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But Hasan is purposely represented as a "softy" till aroused and energized by the magic of Love.
Arabian nights. English Anonymous 1855
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Ghanim is another "softy" lover, a favourite character in Arab tales; and by way of contrast, the girl is masterful enough.
Arabian nights. English Anonymous 1855
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