The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - softenv.

1) Often, soften up. melt, affect, mollify, mellow, palliate, soothe, relax, appease: Nothing would soften the heart of that cruel tyrant. 2) mitigate, assuage, diminish, moderate, reduce, cushion, lessen, weaken, allay, ease, lighten, abate, temper, relieve: Can't you think of some way to soften the blow of such bad news? 3 muffle, deaden, damp, soft-pedal, lower, still, quiet, tone down, lessen, diminish, lighten, turn down, quell, Chiefly Brit quieten: Try to soften the high notes and bring up the bass. 4) give in, succumb, surrender, yield, agree, consent, concur, assent, give way, relax, ease (up) , let up: The committee finally softened and allowed the park to be used for games.