soft-soap

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soft-soap

(sôft′sōp′, sŏft′-)

tr.v. soft-soaped, soft-soap·ing, soft-soaps Informal

To flatter in order to gain something; cajole.

soft′-soap′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

soft-soap

Past participle: soft-soaped
Gerund: soft-soaping

Imperative
soft-soap
soft-soap

Present
I soft-soap
you soft-soap
he/she/it soft-soaps
we soft-soap
you soft-soap
they soft-soap

Preterite
I soft-soaped
you soft-soaped
he/she/it soft-soaped
we soft-soaped
you soft-soaped
they soft-soaped

Present Continuous
I am soft-soaping
you are soft-soaping
he/she/it is soft-soaping
we are soft-soaping
you are soft-soaping
they are soft-soaping

Present Perfect
I have soft-soaped
you have soft-soaped
he/she/it has soft-soaped
we have soft-soaped
you have soft-soaped
they have soft-soaped

Past Continuous
I was soft-soaping
you were soft-soaping
he/she/it was soft-soaping
we were soft-soaping
you were soft-soaping
they were soft-soaping

Past Perfect
I had soft-soaped
you had soft-soaped
he/she/it had soft-soaped
we had soft-soaped
you had soft-soaped
they had soft-soaped

Future
I will soft-soap
you will soft-soap
he/she/it will soft-soap
we will soft-soap
you will soft-soap
they will soft-soap

Future Perfect
I will have soft-soaped
you will have soft-soaped
he/she/it will have soft-soaped
we will have soft-soaped
you will have soft-soaped
they will have soft-soaped

Future Continuous
I will be soft-soaping
you will be soft-soaping
he/she/it will be soft-soaping
we will be soft-soaping
you will be soft-soaping
they will be soft-soaping

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been soft-soaping
you have been soft-soaping
he/she/it has been soft-soaping
we have been soft-soaping
you have been soft-soaping
they have been soft-soaping

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been soft-soaping
you will have been soft-soaping
he/she/it will have been soft-soaping
we will have been soft-soaping
you will have been soft-soaping
they will have been soft-soaping

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been soft-soaping
you had been soft-soaping
he/she/it had been soft-soaping
we had been soft-soaping
you had been soft-soaping
they had been soft-soaping

Conditional
I would soft-soap
you would soft-soap
he/she/it would soft-soap
we would soft-soap
you would soft-soap
they would soft-soap

Past Conditional
I would have soft-soaped
you would have soft-soaped
he/she/it would have soft-soaped
we would have soft-soaped
you would have soft-soaped
they would have soft-soaped

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	soft-soap - persuade someone through flattery blarney, cajole, coax, inveigle, sweet-talk, wheedle, palaver - influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering; "He palavered her into going along"
	2.	soft-soap - use flattering talk on somebody blandish, flatter - praise somewhat dishonestly

Translations

soft-soap

[ˌsɒftˈsəʊp] VT → dar coba a

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

soft-soap

[ˌsɒftˈsəʊp] vt (fam) → dare del sapone a, lusingare

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Martin, after a few instructions, sorted the great heaps of soiled clothes, while Joe started the masher and made up fresh supplies of soft-soap, compounded of biting chemicals that compelled him to swathe his mouth and nostrils and eyes in bath- towels till he resembled a mummy.

Martin washed woollens that day, by hand, in a large barrel, with strong soft-soap, by means of a hub from a wagon wheel, mounted on a plunger-pole that was attached to a spring-pole overhead.

View in context

This warts-and-all drama tackles the issues of the day head-on - it doesn't shy away from the racial tensions of the day in the US and it doesn't soft-soap it either.

Slow burnerin Seven Seconds; Talk TV

BRENDAN RODGERS has warned his Celtic youngsters they won't be getting the soft-soap treatment at Lennoxtown.

BLINGS CAN ONLY GET BITTER; BETFRED CUP; Rodgers: If you're going to have Louis Vuitton gear you better make sure you've earned it!

"A celebratory documentary," says the tagline on the front of the DVD box and that sums up the soft-soap approach of Timothy Knight's documentary.

Audrey Hepburn in the Movies: Quick Fix of Golden Age of Hollywood [REVIEW]

A popinjay of immense vanity named Burt lived on his looks and ruthlessly honed fake sincerity, and wherever a woman was to be found, be it in a club or a library, Burt would 'soft-soap' her with flattery and well-rehearsed lines of the most elaborate sweet talk.

TALES FROM THE PAST; Flash back

8 Don't soft-soap it, we love a storyline about a love rat!

...now look inside

But director Scott Hicks (Shine) has chosen to concentrate on the soft-soap aspects of a war veteran walking into the life of someone who appears to be the world's unluckiest woman.

Efron soldier yarn fails to earn stripes

in other categories included Softsoap Nutri Serums and Soft-soap Vanilla Body Butter Mega Moisture body washes, Speed Stick and Lady Speed Stick Stainguard deodorants and Ajax Lime with Bleach Alternative dish liquid, according to Colgate.

Global sales rise 2% at Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Co., which supplies the top-selling Soft-soap brand of liquid hand soap, offers a well-rounded line that includes both antibacterial and fragrance formulas.

Survey shows there's plenty of room for more soap sales

ONE of the more amusing moments this week was seeing the New York developer Donald Trump arrive in the Hebrides - his mother's birthplace - to soft-soap unimpressed locals as he tries to persuade Aberdeen planners they need his new golf course.

Trichoflappophobia: the fear of unruly hair

Indeed, they go to enormous lengths to flatter, soft-soap and generally to prostrate them-selves before their constituents.