as in weak
lacking bodily strength
the athlete, softened by the long period of convalescence, had to begin his training program almost from scratch
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in weakened
to diminish the physical strength of
three weeks of being sick in bed had noticeably softened her
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in tempered
to lessen the shock of
had tried to soften the blow of her rejection to his marriage proposal
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of softened
Sylvie Corbet and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2024
Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
—Catherine Jessee, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2024
Add pear slices to skillet, and reduce heat to medium; cook, flipping occasionally, until pear slices are browned and slightly softened, about 6 minutes.
—Jasmine Smith, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2024
Verb
Le Pen, whose party has softened its anti-EU stance in recent years, denies wrongdoing and claims the case is politically driven.
—Sylvie Corbet and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2024
Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
—Catherine Jessee, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2024
Add pear slices to skillet, and reduce heat to medium; cook, flipping occasionally, until pear slices are browned and slightly softened, about 6 minutes.
—Jasmine Smith, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for softened
Adjective
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Other checks on Trump’s policy will also be far weaker.Daniel W. Drezner, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2024
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Each endpoint can be assessed to sniff out weak points.PCMAG, PCMAG, 6 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Utah’s roster is inarguably weakened by replacing Callie Smith with Genie Erohkina (one of the worst performers last weekend in Virginia Beach), but the roster rules incentivize teams to dump a mid-season acquisition like Smith, so why not cash in at the trade deadline?Todd Boss, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
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The yen remained weakened after Ishiba downplayed the prospect of imminent interest rate hikes earlier this week.Ian Mount, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Low wages, high youth unemployment and a feeble social safety net mean China’s household spending is less than 40% of annual economic output, some 20 percentage points below the global average.Reuters, CNN, 11 Oct. 2024
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The economy has been weighed down by the weakness of its industrial sector amid Russia’s shutdown in natural gas supplies after the invasion of Ukraine, as well as feeble Chinese demand and the car industry’s difficulties in pivoting to electric vehicles.Eleanor Pringle, Fortune Europe, 8 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Makeup sliding off and creasing as the day wears on can be alleviated with setting spray.Carrie Honaker, Southern Living, 18 Oct. 2024
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Resident Debbie Robinson said the new road has alleviated her concerns about limited evacuation routes in case of a wildfire or other emergency.Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 6 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Manu San Felix / National Geographic The Solomon Islands have the world’s second-highest coral diversity, with more than 490 species of hard and soft corals.Peter Guo, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
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The decrease is attributed to a reduction in overall volume for OEM customers and a general reduction in demand for orthopedic soft bracing products.Quartz Bot, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Businesses rely on tech to reduce costs and improve features; however, each technology tool and platform has unique threats and risks that need to be mitigated by software development and/or engineering teams.Expert Panel®, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
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Over time, Israeli control over this population became increasingly entrenched, mitigated only marginally by the limited local autonomy established in the 1993 Oslo accords.Dahlia Scheindlin, Foreign Affairs, 27 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Supplemental Security Income payments are limited to low-income Americans — older adults, or adults or children who are disabled or blind.Louis Jacobson, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
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Not all disabled people view politics through a disability lens.Andrew Pulrang, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near softened
Cite this Entry
“Softened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/softened. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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