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SOFTENED
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Being or made softer or less loud or clear
Example:
muted trumpets
Synonyms:
dull; muffled; muted; softened
Classified under:
Similar:
soft ((of sound) relatively low in volume)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Toned down
Classified under:
Similar:
modulated (changed or adjusted in pitch, tone, or volume)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Past simple / past participle of the verb soften
Context examples:
So he became the enemy of his kind, domesticated wolves that they were, softened by the fires of man, weakened in the sheltering shadow of man's strength.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
In spite of my malignity, it softened and attracted me.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
It softened the blow of his having been a laundryman, and though she could not understand a line of it, she knew that every line of it was great.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
“What I cannot understand,” said I, “is why they should have spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman’s entreaties.”
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Her eyes softened upon him, and a kind answer was on her lips, when a hoarse shout, with the clatter of arms and stamping of steeds, rose up from the bailey below.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A disorder characterized by the decay of a tooth, in which it becomes softened, discolored and/or porous.
(Caries, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)
The decay of a tooth, in which it becomes softened, discolored, and/or porous.
(Caries, NCI Thesaurus)
In truth, it had been so long since I had received sympathy that I was softened, and I became then, and gladly, her willing slave.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
The afternoon was far advanced and the hot glare had softened into a mellow glow before we found ourselves at the police-station.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Then she grieved sorely at her misfortune, and said she would give him all the wealth of the kingdom if he would let her off, but in vain; till at last her tears softened him, and he said, I will give you three days’ grace, and if during that time you tell me my name, you shall keep your child.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
