softness

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔftnəs/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑftnəs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒftnəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

softness (usually uncountable, plural softnesses)

1. The quality of being soft.
   • 1882, The Pall Mall Budget, page 9:

     […] 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 […]

Antonyms

• hardness

Translations

the quality of being soft

• Arabic: نُعُومَة f (nuʕūma)
• Catalan: suavitat (ca) f
• Czech: měkkost f
• French: douceur (fr) f
• Galician: suavidade (gl) f
• Georgian: სირბილე (sirbile)
• German: Weichheit f
• Greek: απαλότητα (el) f (apalótita)

  Ancient Greek: ἁπαλότης f (hapalótēs), μαλακία f (malakía)

• Gujarati: કોમળતા f (komaḷtā), નમ્રતા f (namratā), નરમી f (narmī), નરમાશ f (narmāś), મૃદુતા f (mŕdutā)
• Hindi: कोमलता (hi) f (komaltā)
• Irish: (of person) leibideacht f
• Italian: morbidezza (it) f
• Latin: mollitūdō f, lenitas f
• Latvian: mīkstums m
• Malayalam: മൃദുത്വം (ml) (mr̥dutvaṁ)
• Norwegian:

  Nynorsk: mjukleik m

• Old English: sēftnes f
• Piedmontese: meuj m
• Portuguese: suavidade (pt) f
• Romanian: moliciune (ro) f
• Russian: мя́гкость (ru) f (mjáxkostʹ)
• Spanish: suavidad (es) f, molicie (es) f
• Swahili: wororo (sw), ulaini
• Swedish: mjukhet (sv)
• Telugu: కోమలత్వం (kōmalatvaṁ), మెత్తన (te) (mettana)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: لینت (linet)

• Urdu: نَرْمی f (narmī)