as in hard-core
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Recent Examples of soft-core
For individuals, soft-core KPIs might include the employee’s personal brand reputation, visibility on professional platforms or involvement in external community projects.
—
Filomena Di Luise, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
The film felt like a dispatch from a cinematic world that no longer existed — streamed quietly into a culture now fluent in soft-core stylization but less interested in its emotional stakes.
—arkansasonline.com, 10 July 2025
This is the character most relatable to the man who founded a media company whose sole purpose was to manipulate women into taking their tops off and engage in soft-core pornography on camera and cut them out of the earnings.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024
Ranking Coppola’s 23 features — his 1962 soft-core Tonight for Sure is not included, nor is his misbegotten New York Stories short feature or the Disney attraction Captain EO — was a difficult proposition.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
The agencies that dole out state money to public charger companies — the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission — have taken a soft-core approach to holding the companies responsible.
—Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
Their intercourse isn’t soft-core like Bound but features Marian’s shy, sly, self-consciousness.
—Armond White, National Review, 31 July 2024
Plastered around New York City, the soft-core promo had pedestrians doing double takes.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2023
Filomena Di Luise, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
The film felt like a dispatch from a cinematic world that no longer existed — streamed quietly into a culture now fluent in soft-core stylization but less interested in its emotional stakes.
—arkansasonline.com, 10 July 2025
This is the character most relatable to the man who founded a media company whose sole purpose was to manipulate women into taking their tops off and engage in soft-core pornography on camera and cut them out of the earnings.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024
Ranking Coppola’s 23 features — his 1962 soft-core Tonight for Sure is not included, nor is his misbegotten New York Stories short feature or the Disney attraction Captain EO — was a difficult proposition.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
The agencies that dole out state money to public charger companies — the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission — have taken a soft-core approach to holding the companies responsible.
—Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
Their intercourse isn’t soft-core like Bound but features Marian’s shy, sly, self-consciousness.
—Armond White, National Review, 31 July 2024
Plastered around New York City, the soft-core promo had pedestrians doing double takes.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for soft-core
Adjective
-
Arrested a day earlier at his construction job site, Espinoza Martinez, still dressed in his green work T-shirt, certainly didn’t fit the profile of a hard-core gang member.—
Jason Meisner,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Herrington’s first recruit was one of his survival-class students, Matt Jernigan, a Knoxville native and a hard-core mountain biker who worked a high-paying job in software product management but had only ever wanted to be a park ranger.—
Paige Williams,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The dangers of some using modern technology to render false, realistic pornographic depictions of real individuals is just one of many concerns people are having in the age of artificial intelligence.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
23 Jan. 2026
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The legislation would allow individuals whose likeness has been used by AI to generate pornographic photos and videos without their consent to sue those responsible for generating or disseminating the content for upward of $150,000.—
Lauren Green,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
No surprise, then, that so much of their work is fearlessly modern, whether outspoken and rebellious or confessional and erotic.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Similarly, Luka, parent company of the chatbot Replika, drastically changed its romantic companion chatbots’ personalities by removing their ability to engage in erotic conversations.—
Lori Andrews,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
For many readers and critics, the perception was that Mansfield was almost writing children’s fiction, since most of her stories are deceptively easy to read, although her themes are entirely adult in both form and content.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Dec. 2025
-
Justin Vernon’s midwestern charm and pliable falsetto has always endeared him to indie-rock dads raised on Michael McDonald, but starting a family himself between Bon Iver projects turned this year’s Sable, Fable into a deep examination of the fatherly adult contemporary figure in popular music.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
The hit show is equal parts sexy, fun, and tender.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
-
But the sheer scale of this one—and its mix of sexy, cozy, and in-between pieces—means there’s a little something for everyone.—
Jake Henry Smith,
Glamour,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The actress announced the premiere date for Elle wearing a luxe-looking cream sweater, putting a mature spin on the iconic character’s signature flash and flair.—
Taylor Jean Stephan,
PEOPLE,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Outside are a kitchen, firepit, mature tree groves, ponds, a stream, meadows, and a heated driveway and sidewalks.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The content of its productions has included legitimate theater, vaudeville, burlesque, striptease, movies (many X-rated), classical music and jazz as well as occasional forays into boxing, bodybuilding and politics.—
Dan Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
21 Sep. 2025
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For the first seven years of the rating system (1969-1975), nearly half of the top films (33 of 70) were R- or X-rated.—
Tom Brueggemann,
IndieWire,
26 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Soft-core.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soft-core. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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