softening
noun, verb
softening is spelled S-O-F-T-E-N-I-N-G: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, softening means “The process of making something soft” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of softening is softenings.
How many letters and syllables are in softening?
| Letters | 9: S-O-F-T-E-N-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 25,751st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is softening?
Softening appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce softening?
Softening has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of softening
- softenings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does softening mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The process of making something soft.
- 2
The process of becoming soft.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of soften
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Softening in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense process of making something soft:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | ablandamiento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does softening come from?
From Middle English softenyng, softenynge, equivalent to soften + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).