Definition

1. Adjective:
   • (Of an egg) boiled for a short time so that the yolk is still soft or liquid: This is the primary culinary meaning, describing an egg cooked in its shell in boiling water for a sufficient time to set the white but leave the yolk thickened yet runny.
   • (Of a person) sentimental, tender-hearted, or easily moved: This is a figurative, informal usage describing someone who is emotionally soft or vulnerable, often implying they are easily swayed by feelings of pity or sorrow.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Culinary):
  • For breakfast, he prefers soft-boiled eggs with soldiers.
  • The recipe calls for two soft-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped.
• Adjective (Figurative):
  • Don't be so soft-boiled; you need to be firmer when negotiating.
  • His soft-boiled nature made him a favorite among the children, but a pushover in business.

Advanced Usage

• As a modifier: The term is almost exclusively used attributively (before a noun) rather than predicatively (after a linking verb like 'is').
  • Attributive: a soft-boiled detective (a sentimental detective).
  • Predicative use is rare and often sounds unnatural: ?The eggs are soft-boiled is acceptable, but ?The judge is soft-boiled is very uncommon.

Variants and Related Words

• Soft-boil (verb): To cook an egg in this manner.
  • You need to soft-boil the eggs for exactly six minutes.
• Hard-boiled (adjective): The direct antonym in both senses.
  • (Culinary) An egg boiled until both the white and yolk are solid.
  • (Figurative) A person who is tough, unemotional, or cynical.
• Runny (adjective): Can describe a soft-boiled egg's yolk (), but is not specific to the cooking method.

Synonyms

• Culinary: Runny-yolked.
• Figurative: Sentimental, tender-hearted, softhearted, mushy.

Antonyms

• Culinary: Hard-boiled.
• Figurative: Hard-boiled, hardhearted, callous, tough.

Adjective

1. (eggs) having the yolk still liquid
   • soft-boiled eggs
2. easily moved to pity or sorrow
   • a softhearted judge