Softness

Definition: Softness

Softness

Noun

1. The property of giving little resistance to pressure.

2. A sound property that is free from loudness or stridency.

3. A disposition to be lenient in judging others; "softness is not something permitted of good leaders".

Date "softness" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references)

Domain	Definition
Industry	The yielding sensation experienced when a sheet of soft crêpe paper is crumpled by hand. Source: European Union. (references)
Mining	Tendency to deform easily. It is indicated in a tensile test by low ultimate tensile stress and large reduction in area. Usually the elongation is also high. In a notched bar test, specimens bend instead of fracturing, and energy absorbed is relatively small. See also:toughness;brittleness. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonym: Softness

Synonym: lenity. (additional references)

Antonyms: hardness (n), volume (n). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Motive	Persuasibility, persuasibleness; attractability; impressibility, susceptibility; softness; persuasiveness, attractiveness; tantalization. influence, prompting, dictate, instance; impulse, impulsion; incitement, incitation; press, instigation; provocation; (excitation of feeling); inspiration; persuasion, suasion; encouragement, advocacy; exhortation; advice; solicitation; (request); lobbyism; pull.
Sensibility	Noun: sensibility, sensibleness, sensitiveness; moral sensibility; impressibility, affectibility; susceptibleness, susceptibility, susceptivity; mobility; vivacity, vivaciousness; tenderness, softness; sentimental, sentimentality; sentimentalism.
Softness	Noun: softness, pliableness. Adjective: flexibility; pliancy, pliability; sequacity, malleability; ductility, tractility; extendibility, extensibility; plasticity; inelasticity, flaccidity, laxity.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Domain	Usage
Clever	The hardness of butter is directly proportional to the softness of the bread. (references; author: unknown)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Against the softness of woman (reference) Future Tents Limited (FTL) Architects: Softness Movement and Light (reference) Naked to your softness and other dreams (reference) Spinning for Softness and Speed (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Author	Quotation
Theodore Roosevelt	I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Economic History	Hong Kong	Reflecting the continued softness of real estate prices, Hong Kong experienced 3.6 percent deflation in 2000. Foreign currency reserves totaled US$107.6 billion at year's end, the world's third largest. (references)
	Thailand	In surveying the Best Prospect economic sectors that follow, American companies are advised to evaluate the many commercial opportunities that are available in Thailand based on the forward-looking vantage point of the year 2002, rather than focusing on the current softness in Thailand's economy. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

"Softness" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Softness" is used about 262 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
Noun (singular)	100%	262	18,239

Hypenated Usage
	Ending with "softness": plump-softness, satin-softness.
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.

Language		Translations for "softness"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Arabic		‏نعومة (daintiness, fineness, mellowness, neatness, smoothness, velvet), ‏لطف (affableness, allay, alleviate, amenity, amiability, appease, assuage, attemper, attenuate, benignity, civility, courtesy, ease, extenuate, friendliness, geniality, gentleness, kindness, lighten, mildness, mitigate, moderate, modify, mollify, palliate, politeness, qualify, quell, relax, relieve, smooth, soften, soothe, suavity, sweeten, temper, tone down, urbanity), ‏لدانة (flexibility, plasticity, suppleness), ‏رقة (airiness, benignity, daintiness, delicacy, fineness, finesse, flimsiness, forgiveness, geniality, gentleness, graciousness, loveliness, neatness, polish, refinement, sensitiveness, sensitivity, sleeplessness, suavity, subtlety, tenderling, tenderness, tenuity, tenuousness, thinness), ‏رخاوة (flabbiness, flightiness, looseness). (various references)

Chinese		软性. (various references)

Czech		tichost, pohodlnost, poddajnost (compliance, docility, give, plasticity, pliability, pliancy), mírnost (geniality, gentleness, lenience, leniency, lenity, placidity), mìkkost (tenderness), kujnost (ductility, malleability), jemnost (delicacy, gentleness, mildness, nicety, refinement, subtlety). (various references)

Danish		blødhed (flaccidity). (various references)

Dutch		zachtheid (balminess, gentleness, leniency, meekness, mellowness, mildness, sweetness, tenderness, weakness), weekheid (mellowness, tenderness), malsheid (mellowness, tenderness). (various references)

Esperanto		moleco (mellowness, tenderness). (various references)

Finnish		pehmeys. (various references)

French		mollesse, douceur. (various references)

German		Weichheit (creaminess, downiness, effeminateness, fleeciness, fragility, gentleness, kindness, limpness, mellowness, mossiness, pulpiness, pussiness, smoothness, soft-heartedness, sponginess, squashiness, suppleness, tenderness), sanftheit (gentleness, mildness, peacefulness, silkiness, smoothness), nachgiebigkeit (compliance, indulgence, permissiveness, pliability, sponginess, spring, springiness, yieldingness). (various references)

Greek		απαλότητα (flabbiness, gentleness, silkiness). (various references)

Hebrew		ע�"י� ות (daintiness, delicacy, fineness, finesse, gentleness, grace, niceness, refinement, subtlety, tenderness), רוך (delicacy, gentleness, tenderness, timidity), רפיסות (filmsiness), רכות (delicacy, mildness, muliebrity, tenderness), רכרוכיות (flabbiness, softishness, weakness). (various references)

Hungarian		lágyság (blandness, ease, morbidezza, silkiness, tenderness). (various references)

Italian		morbidezza, dolcezza (fleeciness, gentleness, honey, kindness, mildness, mossiness, silkiness, sweetness). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		軟質 , 軟性 (elasticity, flexibility), �"軟性 (compatibility, elasticity, pliability), �"らかみ . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		な�"しつ, な�"せい (elasticity, flexibility, southwest), やわらかみ, じゅうな�"せい (compatibility, elasticity, pliability). (various references)

Korean		부�"�러움. (various references)

Manx		meiyghid (sentimentality, tenderness), meenys (patience, tameness), meelid, meeinid (blandness, fineness, gentleness, patience, silkiness, smoothness, tameness), buiggys (easiness, limpness, mushiness, pulp, slackness, tenderness, tenderness of meat), buiggid (blandness, blandness of climate, flabbiness, mush, pulpiness, slackness). (various references)

Pig Latin		oftnesssay

Portuguese		suavidade (candor, candour, geniality, gentleness, honey, lenience, leniency, lightness, mellowness, mildness, openness, placability, pleasantness, suavity, tenderness), moleza (enervation), macieza, f. (beater, chopper, creaming, rosin, set, spreading, stickiness, strength), brandura (gentleness, lenience, leniency, lightness, meekness, mellowness, mildness, placability). (various references)

Romanian		moliciune (atony, flabbiness, laxity), inconsistenţã (flabiness, flimsiness, groundlessness, insignificance, unsubstantiality), frãgezime (delicacy, frailty, freshness, tenderness, weakness), dulceaţã (dainties, jam, mildness, sweetness, sweets, voluptuousness), delicateţe (daintiness, dainty, delicacy, fineness, gentleness, nicety, refinement, tactfulness, tenderness, thinness), blândeţe (benignity, clemency, docility, gentleness, good nature, good-heartedness, good-naturedness, meekness, mildness, steadiness, tameness, tractability). (various references)

Russian		мягкость (clemency, gentleness, lenience, leniency, lenity, meekness, mellowness, mercifulness, mildness). (various references)

Scottish		taise (dampness). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		mekoća (tenderness), blagost (clemency, gentleness, lenience, leniency, lenity, meekness, mellowness, mildness, permissiveness, placability, placidity, sooth). (various references)

Spanish		blandura (flabbiness, fleeciness, mildness, mossiness). (various references)

Swedish		vekhet (mellowness, tenderness, weakness), mjukhet (compliance), blödighet. (various references)

Turkish		sevecenlik (benignity, compassion, humaneness, tenderness), yumuşaklık (ductility, geniality, gentleness, give, kid glove, lenience, leniency, limpness, malleability, mellowness, mildness, smoothness, suppleness, sweetness), uysallık (acquiescence, clemency, compliance, docility, ductility, flexibility, give, mansuetude, meekness, milkiness, pliability, pliancy, submissiveness, suppleness, tameness), tatlılık (affability, agreeableness, amenity, amiability, bonhomie, lusciousness, mellowness, smoothness, suavity, sweet, sweetness), gevşeklik (enervation, flabbiness, laxity, laxness, limpness, looseness, slack, slackness), cıvıklık. (various references)

Turkmen		яumюaklyk (gentleness, looseness). (various references)

Ukrainian		ніжність (affectionateness, dearness, delicacy, fondness, tenderness), м'якість (amenity, canniness, clemency, geniality, gentleness, leniency, mildness, soft), плавність (evenness, fluency). (various references)

Vietnamese		tính uỷ mị (flabbiness, flaccidity, maudlin, maudlinism, mushiness), tính mềm dẻo tính dịu d� ng tính nhu nhược, tính ẻo lả sự khờ khạo. (various references)

Welsh		meddalwch. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	mollitiem. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "softness": softnesses. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Softness" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: saftiness, softners. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "softness" (pronounced sô"ftnus or sô"fnus)
5	-f t n u s	swiftness.
4	-t n u s	abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, alertness, appropriateness, astuteness, bluntness, brightness, compactness, completeness, correctness, cuteness, directness, earnestness, eyewitness, faintness, fastness, fitness, flatness, forthrightness, gauntness, greatness, ineptness, inertness, lateness, lightfastness, lightness, neatness, politeness, quietness, remoteness, rightness, robustness, separateness, shortness, steadfastness, stoutness, sweetness, tartness, tightness, unpleasantness, vastness, wetness, whiteness, witness.
3	-n u s	aggressiveness, agribusiness, airworthiness, aloofness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, arbitrariness, assertiveness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awfulness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, bagginess, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bitterness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, bullishness, business, callousness, calmness, carelessness, casualness, cautiousness, cavernous, cheapness, chitinous, cleanliness, cleanness, cleverness, closeness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, competitiveness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, contrariness, Conus, coolness, coziness, craziness, creativeness, creditworthiness, creepiness, crispness, crookedness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deadliness, deafness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, disingenuousness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, drunkenness, dryness, dullness, eagerness, edginess, effectiveness, elusiveness, emptiness, evenness, exogenous, fairness, farsightedness, fickleness, firmness, fondness, foolishness, forcefulness, forgiveness, foulness, fractiousness, frankness, freshness, friendliness, frothiness, fullness, funniness, furnace, gayness, gelatinous, gentleness, genuineness, genus, ghastliness, gluttonous, goodness, governess, graciousness, greenness, grimness, hairiness, handedness, happiness, hardness, harmfulness, harness, harshness, heinous, helplessness, highness, hoarseness, holiness, homelessness, homesickness, homogenous, hopefulness, hopelessness, humanness, idleness, illness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, joblessness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lawlessness, laziness, lenis, likeness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, luminous, madness, Manus, meanness, membranous, menace, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nastiness, nearsightedness, nervousness, newness, niceness, niggardliness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nosiness, nothingness, numbness, ominous, oneness, onus, openness, orderliness, otherness, outrageousness, outspokenness, pandanus, peacefulness, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, pettiness, playfulness, poisonous, polygynous, pompousness, possessiveness, powerlessness, preparedness, queasiness, quickness, raciness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, readiness, reasonableness, rebelliousness, recklessness, redness, resistiveness, resourcefulness, responsiveness, restiveness, restlessness, restrictiveness, richness, righteousness, riskiness, roominess, roughness, rowdiness, rudeness, ruinous, ruthlessness, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, scantiness, secretiveness, selfishness, selflessness, sensitiveness, seriousness, shakiness, shallowness, sharpness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, silliness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smallness, smoothness, smugness, solitariness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadiness, steepness, sternness, stiffness, stillness, stinginess, strangeness, stubbornness, sturdiness, suddenness, suggestiveness, tardiness, tastiness, tenderness, tetanus, thickness, thinness, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, timeliness, tiredness, togetherness, toughness, trustworthiness, truthfulness, ugliness, unconsciousness, uneasiness, unfairness, unhappiness, uniqueness, unwieldiness, unwillingness, usefulness, vagueness, venous, viciousness, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wariness, wastefulness, waterishness, weakness, weariness, weightlessness, weirdness, wellness, wholeness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wilderness, wildness, willingness, wimpiness, wistfulness, wonderfulness, worldliness, worthiness, wryness.
4	-f n u s	aloofness, deafness, roughness, stiffness, toughness.
3	-n u s	abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, aggressiveness, agribusiness, airworthiness, alertness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, appropriateness, arbitrariness, assertiveness, astuteness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awfulness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, bagginess, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bitterness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, bluntness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, brightness, bullishness, business, callousness, calmness, carelessness, casualness, cautiousness, cavernous, cheapness, chitinous, cleanliness, cleanness, cleverness, closeness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, compactness, competitiveness, completeness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, contrariness, Conus, coolness, correctness, coziness, craziness, creativeness, creditworthiness, creepiness, crispness, crookedness, cuteness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deadliness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, directness, disingenuousness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, drunkenness, dryness, dullness, eagerness, earnestness, edginess, effectiveness, elusiveness, emptiness, evenness, exogenous, eyewitness, faintness, fairness, farsightedness, fastness, fickleness, firmness, fitness, flatness, fondness, foolishness, forcefulness, forgiveness, forthrightness, foulness, fractiousness, frankness, freshness, friendliness, frothiness, fullness, funniness, furnace, gauntness, gayness, gelatinous, gentleness, genuineness, genus, ghastliness, gluttonous, goodness, governess, graciousness, greatness, greenness, grimness, hairiness, handedness, happiness, hardness, harmfulness, harness, harshness, heinous, helplessness, highness, hoarseness, holiness, homelessness, homesickness, homogenous, hopefulness, hopelessness, humanness, idleness, illness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, ineptness, inertness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, joblessness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lateness, lawlessness, laziness, lenis, lightfastness, lightness, likeness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, luminous, madness, Manus, meanness, membranous, menace, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nastiness, nearsightedness, neatness, nervousness, newness, niceness, niggardliness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nosiness, nothingness, numbness, ominous, oneness, onus, openness, orderliness, otherness, outrageousness, outspokenness, pandanus, peacefulness, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, pettiness, playfulness, poisonous, politeness, polygynous, pompousness, possessiveness, powerlessness, preparedness, queasiness, quickness, quietness, raciness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, readiness, reasonableness, rebelliousness, recklessness, redness, remoteness, resistiveness, resourcefulness, responsiveness, restiveness, restlessness, restrictiveness, richness, righteousness, rightness, riskiness, robustness, roominess, rowdiness, rudeness, ruinous, ruthlessness, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, scantiness, secretiveness, selfishness, selflessness, sensitiveness, separateness, seriousness, shakiness, shallowness, sharpness, shortness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, silliness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smallness, smoothness, smugness, solitariness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadfastness, steadiness, steepness, sternness, stillness, stinginess, stoutness, strangeness, stubbornness, sturdiness, suddenness, suggestiveness, sweetness, swiftness, tardiness, tartness, tastiness, tenderness, tetanus, thickness, thinness, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, tightness, timeliness, tiredness, togetherness, trustworthiness, truthfulness, ugliness, unconsciousness, uneasiness, unfairness, unhappiness, uniqueness, unpleasantness, unwieldiness, unwillingness, usefulness, vagueness, vastness, venous, viciousness, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wariness, wastefulness, waterishness, weakness, weariness, weightlessness, weirdness, wellness, wetness, whiteness, wholeness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wilderness, wildness, willingness, wimpiness, wistfulness, witness, wonderfulness, worldliness, worthiness, wryness.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "e-f-n-o-s-s-s-t"
	-1 letter: softens.
	-2 letters: fosses, onsets, setons, soften, stenos, stones, tosses.
	-3 letters: fonts, fosse, nests, noses, notes, often, onset, seton, snots, softs, sones, steno, stone, stoss, tones.
	-4 letters: efts, eons, fens, fess, fets, foes, fons, font, foss, ness, nest, nets, noes, nose, note, ones, oses, sent, sets, snot, soft, sone, sons, sots, tens, toes, tone, tons.
	Words containing the letters "e-f-n-o-s-s-s-t"
	+1 letter: songfests.
	+2 letters: frostiness, softnesses.
	+3 letters: fatuousness, loftinesses, stonefishes.
	+4 letters: boastfulness, factiousness, footlessness, footsoreness, frostinesses, frothinesses, slothfulness, sportfulness.
	+5 letters: colorfastness, craftspersons, draftspersons, facetiousness, fatuousnesses, fractiousness, perfusionists.
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.