The quality of being soft to touch, gentle in nature, or lacking hardness.
From Old English 'softe' meaning gentle or mild, combined with the suffix '-ness' to form the abstract noun. The word has maintained its core meaning for over a thousand years, expanding from physical texture to describe character traits.
Softness is one of our most fundamental sensory experiences, yet different cultures value it differently - while Western cultures often associate softness with comfort and luxury, some traditions view it as weakness. The word beautifully bridges the physical and emotional realms, describing everything from fabric to personality.
Associated with femininity and weakness since 19th-century Romantic ideology, reinforcing stereotypes that gentleness = inferior. Contrasted rhetorically with masculine 'hardness' as virtue.
Use to describe actual texture/emotional quality without gendered judgment. Softness is strength (flexibility, resilience); hardness can be brittle.
["gentleness","malleability","tactility"]
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