Soft vs Fair - What's the difference?
soft | fair | Related terms |
Easily giving way under pressure.
(of cloth or similar material) Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.
* Bible, Matt. xi. 8
Gentle.
* Shakespeare
* Tyndale
Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.
* Bible, Proverbs xv. 1
* Wordsworth
Gentle in action or motion; easy.
* Milton
Weak in character; impressible.
* Glanvill
Requiring little or no effort; easy.
Not bright or intense.
(of a road intersection) Having an acute angle.
(of a sound) Quiet.
* Shakespeare
(linguistics) voiced, sonant
(linguistics, rare) voiceless
(linguistics, Slavic languages) palatalized
(slang) Lacking strength or resolve, wimpy.
(of water) Low in dissolved calcium compounds.
(UK, colloquial) Foolish.
* Burton
(physics) Of a ferromagnetic material; a material that becomes essentially non magnetic when an external magnetic field is removed, a material with a low magnetic coercivity. (compare hard)
(of a person) Physically or emotionally weak.
Incomplete, or temporary; not a full action.
(UK, of a man) Effeminate.
* Jeremy Taylor
Agreeable to the senses.
* Milton
Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye.
* Sir Thomas Browne
(archaic) Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.
* Shakespeare
(lb) Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.
*(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
*:A knight soft riding toward them.
*
*:There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
Beautiful, of a pleasing appearance, with a pure and fresh quality.
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*{{quote-book, year=1917, year_published=2008
, edition=HTML, author=(Edgar Rice Burroughs), publisher=The Gutenberg Project
, title= *{{quote-book, year=2010, author=(Stephan Grundy)
, title= Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent.
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:
*Book of Common Prayer
*:a fair white linen cloth
Light in color, pale, particularly as regards skin tone but also referring to blond hair.
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*1677 , (Matthew Hale),
*:the northern people large and fair -complexioned
*
*:This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. In complexion fair , and with blue or gray eyes, he was tall as any Viking, as broad in the shoulder.
Just, equitable.
:
*
*:“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
Adequate, reasonable, or decent.
:
*, chapter=3
, title= Favorable to a ship's course.
Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.
:
*(Matthew Prior) (1664-1721)
*:You wish fair winds may waft him over.
Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unencumbered; open; direct; said of a road, passage, etc.
:
*Sir (Walter Raleigh) (ca.1554-1618)
*:The caliphs obtained a mighty empire, which was in a fair way to have enlarged.
(lb) Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; flowing; said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.
(lb) Between the baselines.
Something which is fair (in various senses of the adjective).
(obsolete) A woman, a member of the ‘fair sex’; also as a collective singular, women.
* 1744 , , act 2, scene 8
* 1749 , Henry Fielding, Tom Jones , Folio Society 1973, p. 39:
* 1819 , Lord Byron, Don Juan , III.24:
(obsolete) Fairness, beauty.
A fair woman; a sweetheart.
* Shenstone
(obsolete) Good fortune; good luck.
* Shakespeare
To smoothen or even a surface (especially a connection or junction on a surface).
To bring into perfect alignment (especially about rivet holes when connecting structural members).
To construct or design a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline or reduce air drag or water resistance.
(obsolete) To make fair or beautiful.
* Shakespeare
A community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements.
An event for public entertainment and trade, a market.
* , chapter=7
, title= An event for professionals in a trade to learn of new products and do business.
A funfair, an amusement park.
Soft is a related term of fair.
As an adjective soft
is easily giving way under pressure.As an interjection soft
is (archaic) be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.As an adverb soft
is (lb) softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.As a noun soft
is a soft or foolish person; an idiot.As a proper noun fair is
.soft
English
Adjective
(er)- My head sank easily into the soft pillow.
- Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching.
- soft''' silk; a '''soft skin
- They that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
- There was a soft breeze blowing.
- I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward's; / Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine.
- The meek or soft shall inherit the earth.
- soft eyes
- A soft answer turneth away wrath.
- A face with gladness overspread, / Soft smiles, by human kindness bred.
- On her soft axle, white she paces even, / And bears thee soft with the smooth air along.
- The deceiver soon found this soft place of Adam's.
- a soft job
- soft lighting
- At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the soft left.
- I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves in the trees.
- Her voice was ever soft , / Gentle, and low, — an excellent thing in woman.
- DH represents the voiced (soft)'' th ''of English these clothes. —
- When it comes to drinking, he is as soft as they come.
- You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft .
- He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.
- The admin imposed a soft''' block/ban on the user or a '''soft lock on the article.
- A longing after sensual pleasures is a dissolution of the spirit of a man, and makes it loose, soft , and wandering.
- a soft liniment
- soft wines
- the soft , delicious air
- soft colours
- the soft outline of the snow-covered hill
- The sun, shining upon the upper part of the clouds made the softest lights imaginable.
Synonyms
* (of a cloth) non-abrasive, fluffy * (gentle) gentle, light, nesh * (of a sound) quiet * (lacking strength or resolve) meek, mild, wimpy, nesh * (foolish) daft, foolish, silly, stupidAntonyms
* (giving way under pressure) hard, resistant, solid, stony * (of a cloth) abrasive, scratchy * (gentle) harsh, rough, strong * (acute) hard * (of a sound) loud * (lacking strength or resolve) firm, strict, tough * (of water) hard * (foolish) sensibleDerived terms
* soft-boiled * soft copy * soft drink * soften * soft focus * soft-hearted * softly * softness * soft on * soft palate * soft power * soft science fiction * soft serve * soft shoe * soft soap * soft-spoken * soft touch * soft toy * software * softwood * softySee also
* mollifyInterjection
(en interjection)- Soft , you; a word or two before you go.
- But, soft ! What light through yonder window breaks?
Adverb
(en adverb)Statistics
* 1000 English basic words ----fair
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) fayr, feir, fager, from (etyl) .Adjective
(er)A Princess of Mars, passage="It was a purely scientific research party sent out by my father's father, the Jeddak of Helium, to rechart the air currents, and to take atmospheric density tests," replied the fair prisoner, in a low, well-modulated voice.}}
Beowulf, genre=Fiction, publisher=iUniverse, isbn=9781440156977, page=33 , passage=And yet he was also, though many generations separated them, distant cousin to the shining eoten-main Geard, whom the god Frea Ing had seen from afar and wedded; and to Scatha, the fair daughter of the old thurse Theasa, who had claimed a husband from among the gods as weregild for her father's slaying: often, it was said, the ugliest eotens would sire the fairest maids.}}
The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, page 200
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
Synonyms
* (beautiful) beautiful, pretty, lovely * (unblemished) pure, clean, neat * (light in color) pale * (just) honest, just, equitableDerived terms
* all's fair in love and war * fair and square * fair cop * fair copy * fair go * fair play * fair sex * fair to middling * fair use * fair-weather friend * to be fairNoun
(fair)- When will we learn to distinguish between the fair and the foul?
- ''Love and Hymen, hand in hand,
- ''Come, restore the nuptial band!
- ''And sincere delights prepare
- ''To crown the hero and the fair .
- In enjoying, therefore, such place of rendezvous, the British fair ought to esteem themselves more happy than any of their foreign sisters
- If single, probably his plighted Fair / Has in his absence wedded some rich miser [...].
- (Shakespeare)
- I have found out a gift for my fair .
- Now fair befall thee!
Verb
(en verb)- Fairing the foul.
Synonyms
* (to reduce air drag or water resistance) to streamlineDerived terms
* fair off * fair up * fairingDerived terms
* bid fair * fair and squareEtymology 2
From (etyl) feire, from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.}}