Meaning

3 senses

  1. To make softer.

  2. (broadly, idiomatic)To appease someone in order to make them more receptive to an idea or proposal.

  3. To become less committed to something.

Examples

3 sentences

  1. The medlars softened up.

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  2. Rima needs to soften up.

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  3. David softened up a bit.

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Forms

softens up, softening up, softened up, softened up
Base formsoften up · to soften up
3rd person singularsoftens up
Present participlesoftening up
Past simplesoftened up
Past participlesoftened up

irregular

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theysoften up
he, she, itsoftens up

Past simpleLesson

all personssoftened up

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave softened up
he, she, ithas softened up

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill soften up

Synonyms

1 synonyms
to appease someone:to butter up

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
softA2softballsoftensoftenersoftlyA2softnessB2softwareA2
soften up — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto