软

軟

ruǎn

adjective HSK 5 #3,745

Meanings

Zhège zhěntou tài ruǎn le.

This pillow is too soft.

Tā shuōhuà de yǔqì hěn ruǎn.

Her tone of speaking is very gentle.

Tā tuǐ yī ruǎn, chàdiǎn shuāidǎo.

His legs went weak and he almost fell down.

Zhè kuài ròu zhǔ de hěn ruǎn.

This piece of meat has been cooked until very tender.

usage

软 has both physical (soft texture) and figurative (weak, yielding) meanings. Opposite: 硬 (yìng, hard).

culture

心软 (xīnruǎn) means 'softhearted' — easily moved to sympathy.

culture

软硬兼施 (ruǎnyìngjiānshī) — 'use both soft and hard tactics' — a common strategy phrase in Chinese.

软 ruǎn