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Frail vs Soft - What's the difference?

frail | soft | Related terms |

Frail is a related term of soft.


As adjectives the difference between frail and soft

is that frail is easily broken; mentally or physically fragile; not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish; easily destroyed; not tenacious of life; weak; infirm while soft is easily giving way under pressure.

As nouns the difference between frail and soft

is that frail is a basket made of rushes, used chiefly for containing figs and raisins while soft is a soft or foolish person; an idiot.

As a verb frail

is to play a stringed instrument, usually a banjo, by picking with the back of a fingernail.

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.

frail

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Easily broken; mentally or physically fragile; not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish; easily destroyed; not tenacious of life; weak; infirm.
  • Liable to fall from virtue or be led into sin; not strong against temptation; weak in resolution; unchaste.

    • Related terms

    * fractal * fraction * fractional * fracture * fragile * fragility * frailly * frailness * frailty

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A basket made of rushes, used chiefly for containing figs and raisins.
  • The quantity of raisins contained in a frail.
  • A rush for weaving baskets.
  • (dated, slang) A girl.
  • * 1931 , (Cab Calloway) / (Irving Mills), ‘Minnie the Moocher’:
    • She was the roughest, toughest frail , but Minnie had a heart as big as a whale.
  • * 1933 , , , edition 1, Book 2, Chapter XXII:
    • There were five people in the Quirinal bar after dinner, a high-class Italian frail who sat on a stool making persistent conversation against the bartender's bored: “Si ... Si ... Si,” a light, snobbish Egyptian who was lonely but chary of the woman, and the two Americans.
  • * 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), The Big Sleep , Penguin 2011, p. 148:
    • ‘She's pickin' 'em tonight, right on the nose,’ he said. ‘That tall black-headed frail .’
  • * 1941 , Preston Sturges, '', published in ''Five Screenplays , ISBN 0-520-05442-4, page 77:
    • Sullivan, the girl and the butler get to the ground. The girl wears a turtle-neck sweater, a cap slightly sideways, a torn coat, turned-up pants and sneakers.
    SULLIVAN Why don't you go back with the car... You look about as much like a boy as .
    THE GIRL All right, they'll think I'm your frail .

    References

    *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To play a stringed instrument, usually a banjo, by picking with the back of a fingernail.

    • Anagrams

    *

    soft

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Easily giving way under pressure.
    • My head sank easily into the soft pillow.
  • (of cloth or similar material) Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.
    • Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching.
    soft''' silk; a '''soft skin
  • * Bible, Matt. xi. 8
    • They that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
  • Gentle.
    • There was a soft breeze blowing.
  • * Shakespeare
    • I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward's; / Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine.
  • * Tyndale
    • The meek or soft shall inherit the earth.
  • Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.
    • soft eyes
  • * Bible, Proverbs xv. 1
    • A soft answer turneth away wrath.
  • * Wordsworth
    • A face with gladness overspread, / Soft smiles, by human kindness bred.
  • Gentle in action or motion; easy.
  • * Milton
    • On her soft axle, white she paces even, / And bears thee soft with the smooth air along.
  • Weak in character; impressible.
  • * Glanvill
    • The deceiver soon found this soft place of Adam's.
  • Requiring little or no effort; easy.
    • a soft job
  • Not bright or intense.
    • soft lighting
  • (of a road intersection) Having an acute angle.
    • At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the soft left.
  • (of a sound) Quiet.
    • I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves in the trees.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Her voice was ever soft , / Gentle, and low, — an excellent thing in woman.
  • (linguistics) voiced, sonant
    • DH represents the voiced (soft)'' th ''of English these clothes. —
  • (linguistics, rare) voiceless
  • (linguistics, Slavic languages) palatalized
  • (slang) Lacking strength or resolve, wimpy.
    • When it comes to drinking, he is as soft as they come.
  • (of water) Low in dissolved calcium compounds.
    • You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft .
  • (UK, colloquial) Foolish.
  • * Burton
    • He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.
  • (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.
    • The admin imposed a soft''' block/ban on the user or a '''soft lock on the article.
  • (UK, of a man) Effeminate.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
    • A longing after sensual pleasures is a dissolution of the spirit of a man, and makes it loose, soft , and wandering.
  • Agreeable to the senses.
    • a soft liniment
    soft wines
  • * Milton
    • the soft , delicious air
  • Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye.
    • soft colours
    the soft outline of the snow-covered hill
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
    • 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, stupid

    Antonyms

    * (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) sensible

    Derived 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 * softy

    See also

    * mollify

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (archaic) Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Soft , you; a word or two before you go.
    But, soft ! What light through yonder window breaks?

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (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.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • A soft or foolish person; an idiot.
    • (George Eliot)

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----