Softened
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
softened
adj 1: toned down
2: being or made softer or less loud or clear; "the dull boom of
distant breaking waves"; "muffled drums"; "the muffled noises
of the street"; "muted trumpets" [syn: {dull}, {muffled},
{muted}, {softened}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Soften \Sof"ten\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Softened}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Softening}.]
To make soft or more soft. Specifically:
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(a) To render less hard; -- said of matter.
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Their arrow's point they soften in the flame.
--Gay.
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(b) To mollify; to make less fierce or intractable.
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Diffidence conciliates the proud, and softens the
severe. --Rambler.
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(c) To palliate; to represent as less enormous; as, to soften
a fault.
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(d) To compose; to mitigate; to assuage.
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Music can soften pain to ease. --Pope.
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(e) To make calm and placid.
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All that cheers or softens life. --Pope.
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(f) To make less harsh, less rude, less offensive, or less
violent, or to render of an opposite quality.
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He bore his great commision in his look,
But tempered awe, and softened all he spoke.
--Dryden.
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(g) To make less glaring; to tone down; as, to soften the
coloring of a picture.
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(h) To make tender; to make effeminate; to enervate; as,
troops softened by luxury.
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(i) To make less harsh or grating, or of a quality the
opposite; as, to soften the voice.
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from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
84 Moby Thesaurus words for "softened":
abject, apologetic, bated, chastened, complaisant, conditioned,
constrained, contrite, controlled, creamy, damped, dampened, dead,
deadened, delicate, dull, dulled, easy, eggshell, flat, gentle,
gloss, hedged, hedged about, humble, humbled, hushed, in control,
in hand, iridescent, leavened, light, limited, low-key, mellow,
mellowy, melted, mild, mitigated, modified, modulated, mollified,
mother-of-pearl, muffled, muted, nacreous, nonresistive, nonrigid,
opalescent, pale, pastel, patinaed, pearly, penitent, penitential,
penitentiary, qualified, quelled, quiet, repentant, restrained,
restricted, sad, seasoned, semigloss, sheepish, simple, smothered,
sober, soft, soft as putty, soft-colored, soft-hued, somber, sordo,
stable, stifled, subdued, subtle, sweet, tempered, tender, touched,
whisper-soft
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