Soft

軟 means soft or supple, and can also mean weak or yielding. Chinese uses include soft texture, weakness, and a mild approach. Japanese uses 軟らかい, read やわらかい (“soft”), and なん in compounds. The Korean word 연하다, sometimes written 軟하다, means soft or supple and can also describe a pale or light color.

One traditional analysis combines 車 (“vehicle”) with 耎 as a sound component and imagines a cart with padded wheels. Another treats 軟 as a customary written form of 輭; the padded-wheel account is not settled etymology.