software

noun

soft·​ware ˈsȯft-ˌwer 

: something used or associated with and usually contrasted with hardware: such as

a

: programs for a computer

accounting software

b

dated : the entire set of programs, procedures, and related documentation associated with a mechanical or electronic system and especially a computer system

c

: materials for use with audiovisual equipment

… television programs, music, and movies are now called software, by the way …

—Robert Bixby

Examples of software in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

During testing, Claude Mythos was able to exploit thousands of bugs and software defects in major operating systems and browsers online, but it was never widely released to the public. —Mason Leath, ABC News, 11 June 2026

This article was generated by the Bay Area Home Report Bot, software that analyzes home sales or other data and creates an article based on a template created by humans. —Bay Area Home Report, Mercury News, 10 June 2026

Japan maintains a complex certification process for government software that is conducted almost exclusively in Japanese, which disadvantages non-Japanese providers. —Leonard Lim, Fortune, 10 June 2026

Shares of Oracle dropped more than 11% in extended trading after the software giant announced plans to raise an additional $20 billion in equity and debt to pay for its artificial intelligence buildout. —Lisa Kailai Han,justina Lee, CNBC, 10 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for software

• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare
• compare

Kids Definition

software

noun

soft·​ware ˈsȯf-ˌtwa(ə)r 

-ˌtwe(ə)r

: the programs and related information used by a computer