soft

/sɒft/

//sɒft// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"soft" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“soft” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,130 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#2,130
frequency rank, English
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Easily giving way under pressure.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

soft vs son
50% similar
soft vs sox
50% similar
soft vs sol
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for soft
PropertyValue
Headwordsoft
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/sɒft/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,130
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “soft” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). soft lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for soft is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɒft/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,130 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 37 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for soft, with forms such as "osft", "sfot", and "sofft". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "son", "sox", "sol", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, alteration of earlier sēfte (“soft”), from Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) (“level, even, smooth, soft, gentle”) (compare *sōmiz (“agreeable, fitting”)), from Proto-Indo-European *semptio-, *semtio-, from *se… The correct English form is soft, spelled S-O-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Easily giving way under pressure.
  2. 2
    Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.
  3. 3
    Quiet.
  4. 4
    Gentle.
  5. 5
    Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.
  6. 6
    Gentle in action or motion; easy.
  7. 7
    Limp, weak.
  8. 8
    Weak in character; impressible.
  9. 9
    Requiring little or no effort; easy.
  10. 10
    Not bright or intense.
  11. 11
    Having a slight angle from straight.
  12. 12
    Voiced; sonant; lenis.
  13. 13
    Voiceless.
  14. 14
    Palatalized.
  15. 15
    Excessively empathetic or concerned about others’ wellbeing.
  16. 16
    Lacking strength or resolve; not tough, wimpy.
  17. 17
    Low in dissolved calcium compounds.
  18. 18
    Foolish.
  19. 19
    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)
  20. 20
    Physically or emotionally weak.
  21. 21
    Effeminate.
  22. 22
    Agreeable to the senses.
  23. 23
    Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye.
  24. 24
    Made up of nonparallel rays, tending to wrap around a subject and produce diffuse shadows.
  25. 25
    Incomplete, or temporary; not a full action.
  26. 26
    Emulated with software; not physically real.
  27. 27
    Not likely to cause addiction.
  28. 28
    Not containing alcohol.
  29. 29
    Easy-going, lenient, not strict; permissive.
  30. 30
    Of a market: having more supply than demand; being a buyer's market.
  31. 31
    Softcore
  32. 32
    Mild, tame, moderate; far from intense or excluding harsh elements.
  33. 33
    Of paper: unsized.
  34. 34
    Of silk: having the natural gum cleaned or washed off.
  35. 35
    Of coal: bituminous, as opposed to anthracitic.
  36. 36
    Of weather: warm enough to melt ice; thawing.
  37. 37
    Attracted to or emotionally involved with someone.

Etymology

From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, alteration of earlier sēfte (“soft”), from Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) (“level, even, smooth, soft, gentle”) (compare *sōmiz (“agreeable, fitting”)), from Proto-Indo-European *semptio-, *semtio-, from *sem- (“one, whole”). Cognate with West Frisian sêft (“gentle; soft”), Dutch zacht (“soft”), German Low German sacht (“soft”), German sanft (“soft, yielding”), Old Norse sœmr (“agreeable, fitting”), samr (“same”). More at seem, same.

Synonyms

non-abrasivefluffygentlelightneshquietmeekmildwimpyneshdaftfoolishsillystupidcushionyflabbyflaccidflexiblesoftspongymellowmalleablemoldablepliabletenderyieldingzate

Antonyms

hardresistantsolidstonyabrasivescratchyharshroughstrongantonym(s) ofloudfirmstricttoughantonym(s) ofsensibleunyielding

This word in other languages

blando(Español)mou(Français)weich(Deutsch)mole(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: osft,sfot,sofft,softt,sotf,ssoft

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of soft - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

osft2sfot2sofft1softt1sotf2ssoft1
Edit distance from "soft"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "soft"?
"soft" is spelled S-O-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /sɒft/.
What does "soft" mean?
As an adjective, "soft" means: Easily giving way under pressure.
What words are commonly confused with "soft"?
"soft" is commonly confused with "son", "sox", "sol". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "soft"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "soft" is /sɒft/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "soft"?
From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, alteration of earlier sēfte (“soft”), from Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) (“level, even, smooth, soft, gentle”) (compare *sōmiz (“agreeable, fitting”)), from Proto-Indo-European *semptio-, *semtio-... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “soft”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-O-F-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /sɒft/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “son” - see the side-by-side comparison. soft vs son
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list