Definition of soften

• v. t. - To make soft or more soft.
• v. t. - To render less hard; -- said of matter.
• v. t. - To mollify; to make less fierce or intractable.
• v. t. - To palliate; to represent as less enormous; as, to soften a fault.
• v. t. - To compose; to mitigate; to assuage.
• v. t. - To make less harsh, less rude, less offensive, or less violent, or to render of an opposite quality.
• v. t. - To make less glaring; to tone down; as, to soften the coloring of a picture.
• v. t. - To make tender; to make effeminate; to enervate; as, troops softened by luxury.
• v. t. - To make less harsh or grating, or of a quality the opposite; as, to soften the voice.
• v. i. - To become soft or softened, or less rude, harsh, severe, or obdurate.