Softened

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Soften \Sof"ten\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Softened}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Softening}.]
     To make soft or more soft. Specifically: 
     [1913 Webster]
     (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 WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]
       3: (of light) not bright or glaring; "a softer diffused
          radiance" [syn: {diffused}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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