Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Softened |
SoftenedAdjective1. Toned down. 2. Being or made softer or less loud or clear; "the dull boom of distant breaking waves"; "muffled drums"; "the muffled noises of the street"; "muted trumpets". 3. (of light) not bright or glaring; "a softer diffused radiance". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "softened" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Synonyms: SoftenedSynonyms: diffused (adj), dull (adj), muffled (adj), muted (adj). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Softened |
| English words defined with "softened": cushioned, cushiony ♦ Euphemistical ♦ Gelatin process ♦ hushed ♦ Immitigable, Indigested, Intenerate ♦ Malacosteon, Mouille, muted ♦ padded, Pultaceous ♦ quiet, Quirboilly ♦ Scumbling, soak, soakage, soaking, Sop, Sparkling synchysis, subdued ♦ thickly ♦ unpadded ♦ Wood pulp. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "softened": ACETONE-BUTTON PASTER, annealed wire rope ♦ BIT BENDER, BLOCKER, HAND I, blocker, heated metal-forms, brim molder, brim stretcher, brimmer blocker, brimming-machine operator, BRIM-STRETCHING-MACHINE OPERATOR ♦ cooker helper ♦ DEBUBBLIZER, DEFECT REPAIRER, GLASSWARE, DENTURE WAXER ♦ felt puller ♦ hat blocker, HUMORIST ♦ Lagado ♦ NUT-PROCESS HELPER ♦ ROD-AND-TUBE STRAIGHTENER ♦ Sperry process, swelling pressure ♦ tube-and-rod straightener ♦ waxer. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "softened": Burman ♦ Soften. (references) |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Big guns of the battlewagons softened the Japs on Attu. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Miguel De Cervantes | When the severity of the law is to be softened, let pity, not bribes, be the motive. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | But of late, since the night of his vigil, all her sympathies towards him had been both softened and invigorated. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The people, who do not look for unworthy motives in holy works, admired and were softened. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Ma glanced sharply at him, and then her eyes softened. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | An impaction can be softened with mineral oil taken by mouth and an enema. (references) | |
Food can be cut into small pieces, softened, or pureed to ease swallowing and prevent choking. (references) | ||
Business | Controversy regarding these different solutions has been heated, and has been conducted under various ideological banners, but opposition appears to have softened due among other things to perceived shortcomings in public service provision. (references) | |
Economic History | India | However, the government has softened its stand on the need for each investment to create jobs directly. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | HUMORIST, n. A plague that would have softened down the hoar austerity of Pharaoh's heart and persuaded him to dismiss Israel with his best wishes, cat-quick. Lo! the poor humorist, whose tortured mind See jokes in crowds, though still to gloom inclined -- Whose simple appetite, untaught to stray, His brains, renewed by night, consumes by day. He thinks, admitted to an equal sty, A graceful hog would bear his company. Alexander Poke |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Then years later, when both were retired, and age had softened their anger, they began to speak to each other again through letters. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Softened" is generally used as a lexical verb (past tense) -- approximately 47.72% of the time. "Softened" is used about 329 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (past tense) | 47.72% | 157 | 25,059 |
| Lexical Verb (past participle) | 43.16% | 142 | 26,554 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 9.12% | 30 | 63,341 |
| Total | 100.00% | 329 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "softened": weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "softened": softened-up. | |
Ending with "softened": rain-softened. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
cervix softened | 4 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "softened"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 变"' (soften, softening). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | svejsning med gennemloebning (sagged weld, weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag), udbloedt raat skind (softened raw hide, softened raw skin), udbloedt raa hud (softened raw hide, softened raw skin), grubetaering kan undgaas ved brug af cirkulerende bloedgjort elller deioniseret vand (pitting can be prevented by the use of circulating softened or deionised water), bloedgummi (softened rubber, vulcanised rubber, vulcanized rubber), bloedgjort vand (softened water), afkalket vand (softened water). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | softened rubber (softened rubber), weekgemaakte rubber (softened rubber), putvorming kan worden voorkomen door circulatie van het water of door het te ontharden of ontioniseren (pitting can be prevented by the use of circulating softened or deionised water), onthard water (fresh water, soft water, softened water, sweet water), ongelooide geweekte huid (softened raw hide, softened raw skin), ongelooid geweekt vel (softened raw hide, softened raw skin), met olie versneden rubber (oil enriched rubber, oil softened rubber), doorgezakte las (sagged weld, weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | piste-eli kuoppakorroosiota voidaan estää käyttämällä pehmennettyä tai deionoitua kiertovettä (pitting can be prevented by the use of circulating softened or deionised water), pehmeäkumi (softened rubber), alaspainunut hitsi (sagged weld, weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | attendrirent, attendries, attendrie, attendrîmes. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | milderte (alleviated, mellowed, moderated), aufgeweicht. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | υπερβολική διείσδυση μετάλλου (sagged weld, weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag), η σκληρότητα απότομης ψύξης των χαλύβων μπορεί να ελαττωθεί με αναθέρμανση,την "επαναφορά" σε θερμοκρασία σχετικά χαμηλή, αποσκληρυμένο νερό (softened water), αποσκληρυμένο ελαστικό (softened rubber), τρέξιμο μετάλλου σε συνεχή μορφή (sagged weld, weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag), διαβρεγμένο ακατέργαστο δέρμα (softened raw hide, softened raw skin). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | megenyhülve. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | ammorbidente (conditioner). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 'む (to be softened, to calm down). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | な"む (to be softened, to calm down). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 연"하". (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | meeinit (tamed), boggit (afloat, aspirate, aspirated, moistened, moisture, steeped). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | oftenedsay pele em bruto reverdecida (softened raw hide, softened raw skin), escorrimento ao baixo (sagged weld, weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag), borracha mole (softened rubber), borracha macia (softened rubber), borracha diluída com óleo (oil softened rubber), borracha amolecida com óleo (oil softened rubber), água descalcarizada (softened water). (various references) смягчать смягченный (mollified). (various references) soldadura hundida (sagged weld, weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag), se puede evitar la corrosión por picadura empleando agua circulante, descalcificada y desionizada (pitting can be prevented by the use of circulating softened or deionised water), piel en bruto reverdecida (softened raw hide, softened raw skin), la dureza del temple de los aceros se puede atenuar por medio de un recalentamiento, el 'revenido', a una temperatura relativamente baja (a hard quenched steel can be softened by reheating or "tempering" at a relatively low temperature), cuero en bruto reverdecido (softened raw hide, softened raw skin), caucho blando (softened rubber), caucho ablandado al aceite (oil softened rubber). (various references) undansjunken svets (sagged weld, weld where the parent metal has softened allowing the weld and edges of metal to sag), mjukgummi (softened rubber). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misspellings | |
"Softened" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Ostende, softee, Softone. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "softened" (pronounced sô"fund) |
| 4 | -f u n d | orphaned, siphoned, stiffened, toughened. |
| 3 | -u n d | abandoned, aforementioned, aland, almond, apportioned, auctioned, auditioned, awakened, bargained, beckoned, blackened, bludgeoned, brightened, broadened, burdened, burgeoned, buttoned, captioned, cautioned, championed, chastened, cheapened, chickened, christened, commissioned, conditioned, cordoned, cottoned, cushioned, dampened, darkened, decommissioned, deepened, destined, determined, diamond, dimensioned, disciplined, disheartened, disillusioned, dockland, Eland, emblazoned, emboldened, engined, enlightened, enlivened, envisioned, errand, evened, examined, fashioned, fastened, fattened, flattened, frightened, functioned, gardened, Garland, garrisoned, glistened, happened, hardened, hastened, heartened, heightened, Highland, Holland, husband, illumined, imagined, impassioned, imprisoned, island, jettisoned, leavened, legend, lengthened, lessened, ligand, lightened, likened, listened, livened, loosened, malfunctioned, margined, mentioned, millisecond, moistened, moribund, motioned, nanosecond, Norland, occasioned, opened, optioned, Osmund, overburdened, pardoned, partitioned, petitioned, poisoned, positioned, predestined, predetermined, prisoned, proportioned, propositioned, questioned, quickened, rationed, reasoned, reawakened, rechristened, reckoned, reconditioned, reexamined, reopened, repositioned, requisitioned, Reverend, ripened, ruined, saddened, sanctioned, seasoned, second, sectioned, sharpened, Shetland, shortened, sickened, slackened, soland, stationed, steepened, stipend, straightened, strengthened, summoned, sweetened, thickened, thousand, threatened, tightened, unburdened, unbuttoned, undetermined, unenlightened, unmentioned, unopened, unquestioned, unsanctioned, upland, vacationed, weakened, widened, wizened, worsened. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-e-f-n-o-s-t" | |
-1 letter: denotes, fondest. | |
-2 letters: denote, donees, nested, soften, stoned, tensed. | |
-3 letters: deets, denes, dense, dents, doest, donee, dotes, feeds, fends, feods, feted, fetes, fonds, fonts, needs, nodes, nosed, noted, notes, often, onset, sente, seton, sonde, steed, steno, stone, teens, tends, tense, toned, tones. | |
-4 letters: dees, deet, deft, dene, dens, dent, does, done, dons, dose, dost. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-e-f-n-o-s-t" | |
+1 letter: festooned. | |
+2 letters: defections, fieldstone, unforested. | |
+3 letters: centerfolds, defecations, deflections, deforesting, federations, femtosecond, fieldstones, manifestoed, noninfested, tenderfoots. | |
+4 letters: codefendants, confederates, deforcements, femtoseconds, typefounders. | |
+5 letters: cotransferred, deforestation, foreshortened, nonesterified, redefinitions, retransformed. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)53 6F 66 74 65 6E 65 64 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)... --- ..-. - . -. . -.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010011 01101111 01100110 01110100 01100101 01101110 01100101 01100100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)S o f t e n e d |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0053 006F 0066 0074 0065 006E 0065 0064 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)5381728671807170 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Images: Photo Album | 5. Quotations: Familiar 6. Quotations: Fiction 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Quotations: Speeches | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Orthography | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
