soft

Soft is an English adjective describing something with little hardness or rigidity, and it can convey pliability, gentleness, tenderness, or mildness. In everyday use it describes textures, sounds, and behavior, such as soft fabric, soft light, or a soft approach. The term also appears across various fields with more specialized meanings.

In science, soft matter refers to materials that deform easily under small forces, including polymers, foams, gels, colloids, and liquid crystals. These materials have low elastic moduli and exhibit large, reversible deformations. Soft matter physics studies how thermal fluctuations and entropic effects govern their structure and dynamics, with applications in biophysics, coatings, and consumer products. Soft robotics uses flexible, compliant materials to interact safely with humans and delicate objects.

In computing and technology, soft contrasts with hard as in software versus hardware. Software comprises programs and data, while hardware denotes physical computing components. A soft link, or symbolic link, is a type of pointer in file systems that references another file or directory. In electronics, soft errors are transient faults caused by external radiation that do not indicate permanent damage, whereas hard errors are persistent faults.

In music, soft indicates a quiet dynamic level, equivalent to piano, guiding articulation and expression. In linguistics, soft versus hard consonants or orthographic marks such as the soft sign describe how sounds are produced or written, though usage varies by language.

In culture and geopolitics, soft power describes influence achieved through appeal, culture, and diplomacy rather than coercion. Phrases like soft skills, soft launch, and soft approaches reflect non-aggressive or gradual strategies.