softness
/ˈsɔftnəs/noun
softness is spelled S-O-F-T-N-E-S-S: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,270th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, softness means “The quality of being soft” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of softness is softnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in softness?
| Letters | 8: S-O-F-T-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,270th 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 softness?
Softness appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,270th 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 softness?
- US /ˈsɔftnəs/
- /ˈsɑftnəs/
- UK /ˈsɒftnəs/
Softness has 2 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). Recordings: En-us-softness.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of softness
- softnesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does softness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being soft.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Softness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the quality of being soft:
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 softness come from?
From Middle English softnesse, from Old English sōftnes, alteration of earlier sēftnes. Equivalent to soft + -ness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).