noun
Meaning 1
One who, or that which, softens.
A water softener.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
softener
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Canada, UK: /ˈsɒfənər/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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US: /ˈsɔfənər/
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cot-caught-merger: /ˈsɑfənər/
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CMU ARPABET: S AO1 F AH0 N ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
One who, or that which, softens.
Fabric softener.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
One who, or that which, softens.
A substance added to make something softer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
a substance added to another to make it less hard
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: chemical, chemical substance
Narrower terms: conditioner, plasticizer, plasticiser, water softener
History
Etymology
From Middle English softener, equivalent to soften + -er.
Across languages
Translations
5 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Armenian: փափկացնող (pʻapʻkacʻnoġ) — one who, or that which, softens
- Marathi: मृदुकारी (mŕdukārī) — one who, or that which, softens
- Marathi: नरमवणारा (narmavṇārā) — one who, or that which, softens
- Marathi: नरमवणारी (narmavṇārī) — one who, or that which, softens
- Portuguese: suavizante — one who, or that which, softens