What's the difference between mutter and soft?

Mutter


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To utter words indistinctly or with a low voice and lips partly closed; esp., to utter indistinct complaints or angry expressions; to grumble; to growl.
  • (v. i.) To sound with a low, rumbling noise.
  • (v. t.) To utter with imperfect articulations, or with a low voice; as, to mutter threats.
  • (n.) Repressed or obscure utterance.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) When accused of muttering it while reciting Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo, during filming of BBC2s Top Gear, he said he had not, that he would absolutely never use "the most racist word of them all".
  • (2) It's the kind of TV that makes for a wipe-your-weekend-plans box set: the ending of every crack-fix of an episode had me twitchily reaching for the remote to a muttered internal monologue of: "Next one, next one, now, now…" Danes carries the series as the bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison, whose furious vigilance is hard to distinguish from pathological mania as she investigates, and ultimately falls for, Sergeant Brody (Damian Lewis), a Marine who may or may not be a terrorist after eight years held captive by al-Qaida.
  • (3) Brownites used to mutter bitterly about their hero for failing to compete with Tony Blair after the death of John Smith.
  • (4) And that voice like a whip-crack: impish, transgressive, swooping from a mutter to a scream.
  • (5) Sampson became the discreet, muttering centre of a web, connected by telephone and letter, telegram and fax, to an astounding cast of world leaders and commentarians, film stars and novelists.
  • (6) For what it's worth, Labour lost on a whopping great 18% swing to the Tories, yet despite an awful lot of muttering absolutely nothing happened.
  • (7) True, he has trounced them so thoroughly that any mutterings of future challenges are an empty blast of sour breath.
  • (8) Two years as a minister is plenty of time to stack up enemies, or at least a few mutterings that you’ve made a hash of the job.
  • (9) Obviously it should be scoffed down in a box set, like a Supersize V Superskinny obese person's enormo-breakfast, before a period of lying green-faced in a darkened room, listening to experimental jazz, muttering, "Carrie can't let another mistake happen!
  • (10) "It's going to destroy property prices in this area," muttered one.
  • (11) As he checks the woman’s heart with a stethoscope, he explains exactly what is about to happen to her – the nurses will hook her up to an EKG machine, among other procedures – and gets the woman to lie down, still muttering at the original nurse but pliable.
  • (12) "Any politician that claims to you that they're an ordinary person is not telling you the truth," Miliband mutters, half smiling and wincing.
  • (13) Even the most fervent haters of the BBC can only mutter and mumble when Attenborough productions are mentioned.
  • (14) It was a misjudgment in the heat of the moment.” The forlorn-looking Formula One world champion muttered: “I can’t really express the way I’m feeling at the moment so I won’t attempt to.
  • (15) Not via muttering idiots, but upfront, with an acrid twist.
  • (16) He’s not just a straight-talker, he’s a man who reliably says the things politicians dream their opponents will be caught muttering within range of forgotten radio-mics – except he declaims them on a podium in front of thousands.
  • (17) ", seconds before splashing about in the sub-zero Atlantic muttering "bugger".
  • (18) Bit of muttering about justifying selling one's own grandmother Updated at 1.21pm BST 1.06pm BST As Barb Jacobson, of the European Citizen's initiative for a basic income, puts it, a basic income should be high enough for everyone to have a dignified life in society, and to take part in society.
  • (19) One woman muttered angrily to her companion: "It is the dumbing down of America."
  • (20) Some of the mutterings from Threadneedle Street are not the stuff to give the troops."

Soft


Definition:

  • (superl.) Easily yielding to pressure; easily impressed, molded, or cut; not firm in resisting; impressible; yielding; also, malleable; -- opposed to hard; as, a soft bed; a soft peach; soft earth; soft wood or metal.
  • (superl.) Not rough, rugged, or harsh to the touch; smooth; delicate; fine; as, soft silk; a soft skin.
  • (superl.) Hence, agreeable to feel, taste, or inhale; not irritating to the tissues; as, a soft liniment; soft wines.
  • (superl.) Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring; pleasing to the eye; not exciting by intensity of color or violent contrast; as, soft hues or tints.
  • (superl.) Not harsh or rough in sound; gentle and pleasing to the ear; flowing; as, soft whispers of music.
  • (superl.) Easily yielding; susceptible to influence; flexible; gentle; kind.
  • (superl.) Expressing gentleness, tenderness, or the like; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind; as, soft eyes.
  • (superl.) Effeminate; not courageous or manly, weak.
  • (superl.) Gentle in action or motion; easy.
  • (superl.) Weak in character; impressible.
  • (superl.) Somewhat weak in intellect.
  • (superl.) Quiet; undisturbed; paceful; as, soft slumbers.
  • (superl.) Having, or consisting of, a gentle curve or curves; not angular or abrupt; as, soft outlines.
  • (superl.) Not tinged with mineral salts; adapted to decompose soap; as, soft water is the best for washing.
  • (superl.) Applied to a palatal, a sibilant, or a dental consonant (as g in gem, c in cent, etc.) as distinguished from a guttural mute (as g in go, c in cone, etc.); -- opposed to hard.
  • (superl.) Belonging to the class of sonant elements as distinguished from the surd, and considered as involving less force in utterance; as, b, d, g, z, v, etc., in contrast with p, t, k, s, f, etc.
  • (n.) A soft or foolish person; an idiot.
  • (adv.) Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly.
  • (interj.) Be quiet; hold; stop; not so fast.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In conclusion, the efficacy of free tissue transfer in the treatment of osteomyelitis is geared mainly at enabling the surgeon to perform a wide radical debridement of infected and nonviable soft tissue and bone.
  • (2) Bilateral symmetric soft-tissue masses posterior to the glandular tissue with accompanying calcifications should suggest the diagnosis.
  • (3) None of the other soft tissue layers-ameloblasts, stratum intermedium or dental follicle--immunostain for TGF-beta 1.
  • (4) The cotransfected cells do not grow in soft agar, but show enhanced soft agar growth relative to controls in the presence of added aFGF and heparin.
  • (5) It was hypothesized that compensatory restraining influences of surrounding soft tissues prevented a more severe facial malformation from occurring.
  • (6) After the diagnosis of a soft-tissue injury (sprain, strain, or contusion) has been made, treatment must include an initial 24- to 48-hour period of RICE.
  • (7) It is a specific clinical picture with extensive soft tissue gas and swelling of the forearm.
  • (8) Benign and malignant epithelial and soft tissue tumors of the skin were usually negatively stained with MoAb HMSA-2.
  • (9) The patient, a 12 year-old boy, showed a soft white yellowish mycotic excrescence with clear borders which had followed the introduction of a small piece of straw into the cornea.
  • (10) In open fractures especially in those with severe soft tissue damage, fracture stabilisation is best achieved by using external fixators.
  • (11) A distally based posterior tibial artery adipofascial flap with skin graft was used for the reconstruction of soft tissue defects over the Achilles tendon in three cases and over the heel in three cases.
  • (12) The third patient was using an extended-wear soft contact lens for correction of residual myopia.
  • (13) Computed tomography (CT) is the most sensitive radiologic study for detecting these tumors, which usually are small, round, sharply marginated, and of homogeneous soft tissue density.
  • (14) The latter indicated that, despite the smaller size of the digital image, they were adequate for resolving clinically significant soft-tissue densities.
  • (15) We isolated soft agar colonies (a-subclones) and sub-clones from foci (h-subclones) of both hybrids, and, as a control, subclones of cells from random areas without foci of one hybrid (BS181 p-subclones).
  • (16) Three of the tumours represented primary soft tissue lesions, while locally recurrent tumour or pulmonary metastases were studied from the 4 skeletal tumours, all of which had been diagnosed previously as Ewing's sarcomas.
  • (17) The technique is based on a multiple regression analysis of the renal curves and separate heart and soft tissue curves which together represent background activity.
  • (18) A hospital-based case-control study on soft tissue sarcomas (STS) was conducted in 1983-84 in Torino and in Padova (Italy).
  • (19) This phenomenon can have a special significance for defining the vitality in inflammation of bone tissue, in burns and in necrosis of soft tissues a.a. of the Achilles tendon.
  • (20) Thirty patients required a second operation to an area previously addressed reflecting inadequacies in technique, the unpredictability of bone grafts, and soft-tissue scarring.