The difference between Hard and Soft

When used as nouns, hard means a firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water, whereas soft means a soft or foolish person.

When used as adverbs, hard means with much force or effort, whereas soft means softly.

When used as adjectives, hard means having a severe property, whereas soft means easily giving way under pressure.


Soft is also interjection with the meaning: be quiet.

check bellow for the other definitions of Hard and Soft

  1. Hard as an adjective (of material or fluid):

    Having a severe property; presenting difficulty. Resistant to pressure. Strong. High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium. Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft).

    Examples:

    "This bread is so stale and hard, I can barely cut it."

  2. Hard as an adjective (personal or social):

    Having a severe property; presenting difficulty. Requiring a lot of effort to do or understand. Demanding a lot of effort to endure. Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal. Difficult to resist or control; powerful.

    Examples:

    "a hard problem"

    "a hard life"

    "a hard master;  a hard heart;  hard words;  a hard character"

    "don't be so hard on yourself"

  3. Hard as an adjective:

    Unquestionable.

    Examples:

    "'hard evidence"

  4. Hard as an adjective (of a road intersection):

    Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle.

    Examples:

    "At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the hard left."

  5. Hard as an adjective (slang, vulgar, of a [[male]]):

    Sexually aroused.

    Examples:

    "I got so hard watching two hot guys wrestle each other on the beach."

  6. Hard as an adjective (bodybuilding):

    Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.

  7. Hard as an adjective (phonetics, uncomparable):

    Plosive. Unvoiced Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized

    Examples:

    "There is a hard ''c'' in "clock" and a soft ''c'' in "centre"."

    "'Hard ''k'', ''t'', ''s'', ''ch'', as distinguished from soft, ''g'', ''d'', ''z'', ''j''."

    "The letter m ru ж in Russian is always hard."

  8. Hard as an adjective (arts):

    Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment. Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition. Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in colour or shading.

  9. Hard as an adjective (uncomparable):

    In the form of a hard copy.

    Examples:

    "We need both a digital archive and a hard archive."

  1. Hard as an adverb (manner):

    With much force or effort.

    Examples:

    "He hit the puck hard up the ice."

    "They worked hard all week."

    "At the intersection, bear hard left."

    "The recession hit them especially hard."

    "Think hard about your choices."

  2. Hard as an adverb (manner):

    With difficulty.

    Examples:

    "His degree was hard earned."

    "The vehicle moves hard."

  3. Hard as an adverb (obsolete):

    So as to raise difficulties.

  4. Hard as an adverb (manner):

    Compactly.

    Examples:

    "The lake had finally frozen hard."

  5. Hard as an adverb (now, archaic):

    Near, close.

  1. Hard as a noun (countable, nautical):

    A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.

  2. Hard as a noun (uncountable, drugs, colloquial, slang):

    crack cocaine.

  3. Hard as a noun (motorsports):

  1. Soft as an adjective:

    Easily giving way under pressure.

    Examples:

    "My head sank easily into the soft pillow."

  2. Soft as an adjective (of cloth or similar material):

    Smooth and flexible; not rough, rugged, or harsh.

    Examples:

    "Polish the silver with a soft cloth to avoid scratching."

    "soft silk; a soft skin"

  3. Soft as an adjective (of a sound):

    Quiet.

    Examples:

    "I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves in the trees."

  4. Soft as an adjective:

    Gentle.

    Examples:

    "There was a soft breeze blowing."

  5. Soft as an adjective:

    Expressing gentleness or tenderness; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind.

    Examples:

    "soft eyes"

  6. Soft as an adjective:

    Gentle in action or motion; easy.

  7. Soft as an adjective:

    Weak in character; impressible.

  8. Soft as an adjective:

    Requiring little or no effort; easy.

  9. Soft as an adjective:

    Not bright or intense.

    Examples:

    "soft lighting"

  10. Soft as an adjective:

    Having a slight angle from straight.

    Examples:

    "At the intersection with two roads going left, take the soft left."

    "It's important to dance on soft knees to avoid injury."

  11. Soft as an adjective (linguistics):

    Voiced; sonant.

  12. Soft as an adjective (linguistics, rare):

    voiceless

  13. Soft as an adjective (linguistics, Slavic languages):

    palatalized

  14. Soft as an adjective (slang):

    Lacking strength or resolve, wimpy.

    Examples:

    "When it comes to drinking, he is as soft as they come."

  15. Soft as an adjective (of water):

    Low in dissolved calcium compounds.

    Examples:

    "You won't need as much soap, as the water here is very soft."

  16. Soft as an adjective (UK, colloquial):

    Foolish.

  17. Soft as an adjective (physics):

    Of a ferromagnetic material; a material that becomes essentially non magnetic when an external magnetic field is removed, a material with a low magnetic coercivity. (compare hard)

  18. Soft as an adjective (of a person):

    Physically or emotionally weak.

  19. Soft as an adjective:

    Incomplete, or temporary; not a full action.

    Examples:

    "The admin imposed a soft block/ban on the user or a soft lock on the article."

  20. Soft as an adjective (UK, of a man):

    Effeminate.

  21. Soft as an adjective:

    Agreeable to the senses.

    Examples:

    "a soft liniment"

    "soft wines"

  22. Soft as an adjective:

    Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring or jagged; pleasing to the eye.

    Examples:

    "soft colours"

    "the soft outline of the snow-covered hill"

  1. Soft as an adverb (obsolete):

    Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.

  1. Soft as a noun:

    A soft or foolish person; an idiot.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek George Eliot"

  2. Soft as a noun (motorsports):