Etymologically
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softball

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 00:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsɒftbɔːl/, /ˈsɒfbɔːl/[1]
  • US: /ˈsɑːftbɔːl/, /ˈsɑːftbɑːl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English soft + ball,[2][3][4][5] and the OED compares the earlier hardball.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A modified form of baseball, played with a larger and slightly softer ball on a smaller field: 1867, in the Freeport (Illinois) Daily Journal, according to the OED's 2016 revision.[2] Etymonline dates the ball to 1914 and the name of the game to 1916, when it was also called "playground baseball";[3] Merriam-Webster gives 1926 and Dictionary.com 1925–30.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The game and the word are originally North American.[2] In sugar-boiling a soft ball is a soft globule formed when syrup is dropped into cold water, a test of its stage, recorded from 1869 in the OED and 1894 in Etymonline.[2][3] From 1914 a soft ball was also a deliberately gentle or slow shot in tennis and other racket games; the verb, recorded from 1927, meant to play such shots against an opponent.[2] The ball used in the game is recorded as softball from 1936.[2] The figurative uses contrast it with hardball: a softball question is an easy one, especially one put to a politician, from 1974;[3] to play softball, to be accommodating, from 1976;[2] and the verb, to treat someone gently or ask them unchallenging questions, from 1982.[2] In American slang the adjective means trivial or easy.[6]

Timeline

  • 1867 – the game, a modified form of baseball.[2]
  • 1869 – a soft globule of boiled sugar syrup.[2]
  • 1914 – a gentle shot in tennis; the ball, in Etymonline.[2][3]
  • 1916 – the game, in Etymonline.[3]
  • 1927 – verb, to play soft shots against an opponent.[2]
  • 1974 – softball question.[3]
  • 1976 – to play softball, to be accommodating.[2]
  • 1982 – verb, to treat in an unchallenging way.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A team game like baseball, played on a smaller diamond with a larger, softer ball that is pitched underhand, usually over seven innings.[7][4][2]
  2. The ball used in this game.[7][4][2]
  3. (cookery) The stage in boiling sugar syrup at which a drop forms a soft ball in cold water.[7][2]
  4. A gentle or slow shot in tennis and other racket games.[2]

Verb

  1. To treat someone gently or without challenge, especially by asking easy questions.[2]

Adjective

  1. (US, informal) Easy or unchallenging: a softball question.[6][3]

Word family

  • softballer

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins