Meaning & use

soften

verb·Everyday

To make or become less hard, severe, or intense.

See it in a sentence

Warm the butter to soften it before mixing it into the dough.

Her tone softened once she understood his side of the story.

A note on using this word

Soften applies to physical texture as well as figurative things like tone, stance, or emotional impact.

Words with a similar meaning

easemellow

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

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