softball en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
1926: soft + ball. Compare hardball.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A game similar to baseball but played with a larger and softer ball which can be thrown overhand or underhand.
This will give you someone with whom you can trade softball complaints, which any veteran game-goer will tell you is the key to a good time.
1996, Andrew Heller, Come Heller High Water, →ISBN, page 55:
- (countable, uncountable) The ball used to play the sport.
-
(countable, qualifier:by analogy; also attibutive; by analogy; also attibutive, uncountable) A question designed to be easy to answer.
a softball interview
Each man got his share of softballs on Friday night. But for 90 minutes in a dressed-up basketball arena at Washington University, the two candidates were also forced to address the kind of questions they get rarely if ever on the campaign trail: from voters who doubted them and maybe did not even like them very much.
2004 September 10, James Bennett, “In a Disguised Gym, Softballs and Political Drama”, in The New York Times:He [Ben Shapiro] wielded a particularly pointed arrow at Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, for engaging in what he said was “an act of moral imbecility,” by recently airing a softball interview with Nick Fuentes, an avowed antisemite.
2025 December 20, Richard Fausset, Ken Bensinger, quoting Ben Shapiro, “Turning Point’s Annual Gathering Turns Into a Gripefest”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| softballs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
rounders · hardball · baseball · town ball · cricket · towne ball
Deriveds
Descendants
balle molle · softball · softball · softball · softbol
Synonyms
diamond ball · mush ball · playground ball · town ball · indoor baseball · kittenball · pumpkin ball
Translations (36)
fi softball (ball) · lt mažàsis bei̇̃sbolas (game) · pl piłka do softballu (ball) · cmn 壘球 /垒球 (game) · fr softball (ball) · ru софтбо́л (game) · ca softbol (game) · lt sòftbolas (game) · lv softbols (game) · ja ソフトボール (ball) · ko 소프트볼 (game) · vi bóng mềm (game) · ja ソフトボール (game) · hu softball (game) · fi softball-pallo (ball) · bg софтболна топка (ball) · de Softball (game) · fr softball (game) · hu softball-labda (ball) · fr balle-molle (game) · ro softball (game) · fi softball (game) · ja 塁球 (game) · af softbal (game) · nv jooł yikalí (game) · pl softball (game) · pt softbol (game) · pt softball (game) · ga láimhe (game) · nl softbal (ball) · nl softbal (game) · es sófbol (game) · mi poiuka (game) · bg со́фтбол (game) · ko 소프트볼공 (ball) · af sagtebal (game)