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Delicate vs Soft - What's the difference?

delicate | soft |

Soft is a synonym of delicate.



In obsolete terms the difference between delicate and soft

is that delicate is a delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person while soft is softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.

As adjectives the difference between delicate and soft

is that delicate is easily damaged or requiring careful handling while soft is easily giving way under pressure.

As nouns the difference between delicate and soft

is that delicate is a delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie while soft is a soft or foolish person; an idiot.

As an interjection soft is

be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.

As an adverb soft is

softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.

delicate

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
    • Those clothes are made from delicate lace.
    The negotiations were very delicate .
  • * F. W. Robertson
    • There are some things too delicate and too sacred to be handled rudely without injury to truth.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=April 23 , author=Angelique Chrisafis , title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=The final vote between Hollande and Sarkozy now depends on a delicate balance of how France's total of rightwing and leftwing voters line up.}}
  • Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.
    • Her face was delicate .
    The spider wove a delicate web.
    There was a delicate pattern of frost on the window.
  • Intended for use with fragile items.
    • Set the washing machine to the delicate cycle.
  • Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.
    • delicate''' behaviour; '''delicate''' attentions; '''delicate thoughtfulness
  • Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
    • a delicate''' child; '''delicate health
  • * Shakespeare
    • a delicate and tender prince
  • (informal) Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.
    • Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.
  • (obsolete) Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
  • * 1360–1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman) (C-text), passus IX, line 285:
    • Þenk þat diues for hus delicat lyf to þe deuel wente.
  • * circa'' 1660 , (John Evelyn) (author), , volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641, page 29:
    • Haerlem is a very delicate town and hath one of the fairest churches of the Gothic design I had ever seen.
  • Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.
    • a delicate''' dish; '''delicate flavour
  • Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
  • * circa'' 1603 , (William Shakespeare), ''(Othello) , act II, scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:
    • :   She’s a most exquisite lady.…Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.
  • Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.
    • a delicate shade of blue
  • Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
  • Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.
    • a delicate''' taste; a '''delicate ear for music
  • Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.
    • a delicate thermometer

    Related terms

    * delicacy * delicately * delicatessen * delicious * delight

    Synonyms

    * (easily damaged) fragile

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.
    • Don't put that in with your jeans: it's a delicate !
  • (obsolete) A choice dainty; a delicacy.
    • With abstinence all delicates he sees. — Dryden.
  • (obsolete) A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.
    • All the vessels, then, which our delicates have, — those I mean that would seem to be more fine in their houses than their neighbours, — are only of the Corinth metal. — Holland.

    External links

    * * ----

    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)

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