Synonyms

soft touch

American

noun

Informal.

a person who is easily convinced, especially to give or lend money.

a soft touch for charities.
a person who is easily influenced, duped, or imposed upon.

a soft touch for anybody with a sob story.
a person, team, etc., that is easily defeated.

They're a soft touch for any team in the league.
a task or activity that is easily or quickly done, especially a job that pays well and requires little work.

soft touch British

noun

informal a person easily persuaded or imposed on, esp to lend money

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

soft touch Idioms

Someone easily persuaded or taken advantage of, especially in giving away money. For example, Ask Dan for the money; he's always a soft touch. [First half of 1900s]

Etymology

Origin of soft touch

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As a writer, Hughes was gifted with a heavy hand and a soft touch.

From Salon

He told BBC Scotland News that he had plans to fix the NHS, get young people into work and to end a "soft touch" approach to justice.

From BBC

In a nation of noisy confrontationalists—the skillful soft touch replaced by the swing of a folding chair—reason is routinely drowned out by the loudest voices in the room.

From The Wall Street Journal

Scotland's soft touch beginning had been cast to the winds.

From BBC

You are, in their household, considered a “soft touch” — someone who is easily guilt-tripped and/or coerced into parting with your money.

From MarketWatch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023