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
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
Who's more of the disciplinarian and who's more of the softy?
—Lacey Vorrasi-Banis, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2022
See More
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
Who's more of the disciplinarian and who's more of the softy?
—Lacey Vorrasi-Banis, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2022
See More
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
First Known Use
1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near softy
Cite this Entry
“Softy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/softy. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.
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