variants or softie
plural softies
1
: a weak or foolish person
2
: a softhearted or sentimental person

Examples of softy in a Sentence

a softy who usually needs someone else's strong hands to open bottles and jars
Recent Examples on the Web For all her professional bravado, among those closest to her, Silverman is known as a sentimental softy. Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2023 There are several great performances going on that add some surprising depth to characters that could easily be one-note, led by Scott Foley, who seems to be having the most fun as Nick Blackburn, the outwardly cynical executive producer of the show who is, deep down (way, way deep down), a softy. Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021 Turns out the big softy was just a player’s coach. Joseph Goodman, al, 10 July 2022 Lindsay is a softy at heart! Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 1 Sep. 2021 Hardened, tattooed Saira — whose relationship with her family frayed after the early death of her sister — is willing to mentor Amina when even the group’s resident softy, bassist Bisma (Faith Omole), is ready to give up on the talented newbie. Washington Post, 16 June 2021 The second goal Mrázek allowed, this one by Megna, was a real softy — though Jones did him no favors. Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2023 To capitalize on the find, a team chopped the Drakozoon fossil into 200 pieces, photographed those slices, and used a computer to construct a rotatable image of the old softy. Joseph Calamia, Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2010 Being an old softy, Gracie agrees, but Angus can see through this scheme. Washington Post, 10 May 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'softy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

soft entry 1

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of softy was in 1850

Dictionary Entries Near softy

Cite this Entry

“Softy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/softy. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

softy

noun
variants or softie
plural softies
1
2
: a silly or sentimental person
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