Definition of "softy" [softy]

• Informal A person regarded as weak or sentimental. (noun)
• Informal A person who finds it difficult to punish or be strict. (noun)

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.

• "The softy was a man who could hoard his hatred and vengeance, hiding the bad passions away in the dark corners of his poor shattered mind, and bringing them out in the dead of the night to "kiss and talk to," as the Moor's wife kissed and conversed with the strawberry-embroidered cambric."
• "- Fernando R. MICKEY: Bree may come off like a brittle maneater, but at heart she's a real softy, which is why juggling an angry Orson and a horny Karl will really wear on her this fall."
• "You can call me names for being some kind of softy liberal, but it appears the Israelis and the old guard Republican eminences think Pelosi's trip was just the right medicine."