softness

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a disposition to be lenient in judging others

   softness is not something permitted of good leaders

2. 2
   noun

   a visual property that is subdued and free from brilliance or glare

   the softness of the morning sky

3. 3
   noun

   a sound property that is free from loudness or stridency

   and in softness almost beyond hearing

4. 4
   noun

   a state of declining economic condition

   orders have recently picked up after a period of extreme softness

5. 5
   noun

   The quality of being soft.

   […] the informal dressers, with their "divided skirts" and stealthy advances towards confessed trouserdom, are the strong-minded sisterhood, to whom the softnesses of sex are abominations […]

6. 6
   noun

   the trait of being effeminate (derogatory of a man)

7. 7
   noun

   the quality of being indistinct and without sharp outlines

8. 8
   noun

   acting in a manner that is gentle and mild and even-tempered

Etymology

From Middle English softnesse, from Old English sōftnes, alteration of earlier sēftnes. Equivalent to soft + -ness.