soft-boiled
/'sɔft'bɔild/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- 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
- (eggs) having the yolk still liquid
- soft-boiled eggs
- easily moved to pity or sorrow
- a softhearted judge