Meaning & use
soft-spoken personality
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Meaning
nouncountable
A character or nature that is gentle, calm, and not aggressive, often shown by a quiet voice.
Grammar: Countable: a soft-spoken personality, such personalities.
Patterns
- have a soft-spoken personality
- a soft-spoken personality
She has a soft-spoken personality, so people often underestimate her strength.
His soft-spoken personality makes him popular with children.
A soft-spoken personality can be an advantage in a noisy workplace.
Word forms
| plural | soft-spoken personalities |
|---|
Common combinations
- a soft-spoken personality
- He has a soft-spoken personality, but he is very determined.
- calm and soft-spoken personality
- Her calm and soft-spoken personality helps her deal with angry customers.
- soft-spoken but strong personality
- She has a soft-spoken but strong personality.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gentle personality
- More common and natural when describing character; 'soft-spoken personality' is less standard.
- quiet personality
- Focuses on being reserved; 'soft-spoken' focuses on the voice.
- mild personality
- Describes a calm, not extreme character; similar but not limited to speech.
Opposites
Word family
- soft-spoken adjective
- Having a quiet, gentle voice.
- soft-spokenly adverb
- Rare; in a soft-spoken manner.
Commonly confused: soft-spoken personality or soft-spoken person?
soft-spoken personality vs soft-spoken person
A person who speaks softly; 'soft-spoken personality' refers to the character trait.
Practice
Which is the most natural way to describe someone's gentle character?
Choose one answer.
'Gentle personality' is the most natural for character. 'Soft-spoken voice' is correct for voice, but the question asks about character.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “soft-spoken personality”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.