Verbsoften

Verbsoften is a neologism used to describe the process or technique of reducing the force or directness of verbs in discourse. In linguistic practice, it can refer to strategies that soften verb meaning or the actions of automated text editing tools designed to moderate tone. The term is not widely standardized and appears mainly in informal discussions and experimental writing about tone and politeness.

Originating from the combination of "verb" and "soften," verbsoften has no formal dictionary entry or widely accepted definition. It is typically used descriptively rather than as a prescriptive term.

In pragmatics and discourse analysis, verbsoften describes methods such as using hedging modals (could, might, may), employing less agentive or more abstract verbs, and applying aspect or mood to reduce immediacy. Other techniques include distant or passive constructions and the addition of politeness markers to avoid forceful statements.

In software and editing contexts, verbsoften may describe algorithms that automatically rewrite sentences to tone down force or aggression while preserving meaning. Such tools typically rely on lexical databases, sentiment filters, and syntactic transformations, and they must balance tone with clarity and accuracy.

Examples:

direct: "Fix the bug now." softened: "Could you please look into the bug and fix it when you have a moment?"

direct: "Terminate the contract." softened: "Please consider terminating the contract at your earliest convenience."

See also: hedging, politeness theory, tone analysis, stylistic editing.