How to Use soften up in a Sentence

soften up

verb
  • As the night marched on and the awards added up, the duo softened up.
    — Leila Cobo, Billboard, 13 Nov. 2025
  • This helps prevent wilting, but also softens up and removes dirt and bugs on the stems.
    — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Aug. 2025
  • Plop it onto wicker and rattan seating to soften up their edges a little.
    — Blake Bakkila, Architectural Digest, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Once the tortillas soften up in the broth, all or part of it can be blended to create a silky texture full of fresh corn flavor.
    — Riley Wofford, Martha Stewart, 11 Mar. 2026
  • Her review of the best Amazon sheets notes that these are crisp at first but soften up after a couple of washes.
    — Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 18 Aug. 2025
  • The calendar was softening up, after all.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2026
  • This will soften up the sturdy veggies while enhancing their natural sugars.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Oct. 2025
  • After softening up the New England defense in the opening quarter, Walker started to find a groove.
    — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
  • Its modern design includes numerous arched windows and doorways that soften up the architecture, along with a wavy accent wall that leads you from the entrance into the rest of the abode.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 27 Sep. 2025
  • Was the little wobble in popular momentum stocks enough to soften up expectations to receive good news on tech results with enthusiasm?
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Perhaps Neptune retrograde will soften up the fierce energy of Mars in Sagittarius — here’s hoping for that!
    — Lisa Stardust, Refinery29, 4 Nov. 2025
  • While considerably smaller, Lindy doesn’t exactly soften up post-transformation.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 13 Oct. 2025
  • The Iranian nuclear program was a regional and in some respects global menace, and, after a week and a half of Israel softening up, was vulnerable to a single heavy punch.
    — Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 19 Jan. 2026
  • Those weapons hit Iranian air defenses and essentially softened up Iranian offensive positions, paving the way for manned aircraft to come in after, according to the source.
    — Matt Nighswander, NBC news, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Thrusting a baby into Offerman’s burly arms works wonders to soften up Jinx (as does the actor’s vulnerable turn), and Kenny’s arc proves surprising in the right ways (save, perhaps, one late-arriving twist).
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Karen Rohr, principal designer at Mackenzie Collier Interiors, notes that there are other ways to soften up (or cover up, if unslightly) floors, without having carpeting from baseboard to baseboard.
    — Lacey Ramburger, The Spruce, 19 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'soften up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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