Definition of "soften" []

To make soft or softer. (verb-transitive)
To undermine or reduce the strength, morale, or resistance of. (verb-transitive)
To make less harsh, strident, or critical: softened the last paragraph of the letter. (verb-transitive)
To become soft or softer. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "soften" in a sentence

"I felt my expression soften as I looked over at the boy again, but I also saw his jaw tighten and his eyes narrow at the sight of my sympathy, and so I struggled to conceal it."
"Georgia watched the faintest flush of color spread across Laura’s cheeks, watched her expression soften just a little."
"Push a bit harder and you might see her expression soften, and hear her speak of having been compelled, so much so that nothing else had mattered."

Words like "soften"

alter assuage change compose

enervate mitigate modify mollify

often palliate softened softening

softens truckle weaken widen