as in hard-core
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Recent Examples of soft-core
For individuals, soft-core KPIs might include the employee’s personal brand reputation, visibility on professional platforms or involvement in external community projects.
—
Filomena Di Luise, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
The film felt like a dispatch from a cinematic world that no longer existed — streamed quietly into a culture now fluent in soft-core stylization but less interested in its emotional stakes.
—arkansasonline.com, 10 July 2025
This is the character most relatable to the man who founded a media company whose sole purpose was to manipulate women into taking their tops off and engage in soft-core pornography on camera and cut them out of the earnings.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024
Ranking Coppola’s 23 features — his 1962 soft-core Tonight for Sure is not included, nor is his misbegotten New York Stories short feature or the Disney attraction Captain EO — was a difficult proposition.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
The agencies that dole out state money to public charger companies — the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission — have taken a soft-core approach to holding the companies responsible.
—Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
Their intercourse isn’t soft-core like Bound but features Marian’s shy, sly, self-consciousness.
—Armond White, National Review, 31 July 2024
Plastered around New York City, the soft-core promo had pedestrians doing double takes.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2023
Filomena Di Luise, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
The film felt like a dispatch from a cinematic world that no longer existed — streamed quietly into a culture now fluent in soft-core stylization but less interested in its emotional stakes.
—arkansasonline.com, 10 July 2025
This is the character most relatable to the man who founded a media company whose sole purpose was to manipulate women into taking their tops off and engage in soft-core pornography on camera and cut them out of the earnings.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024
Ranking Coppola’s 23 features — his 1962 soft-core Tonight for Sure is not included, nor is his misbegotten New York Stories short feature or the Disney attraction Captain EO — was a difficult proposition.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024
The agencies that dole out state money to public charger companies — the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission — have taken a soft-core approach to holding the companies responsible.
—Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
Their intercourse isn’t soft-core like Bound but features Marian’s shy, sly, self-consciousness.
—Armond White, National Review, 31 July 2024
Plastered around New York City, the soft-core promo had pedestrians doing double takes.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for soft-core
Adjective
-
Upstairs, some of the region’s favorite punk and hard-core bands play the same stage as the likes of Alice In Chains, Black Flag, Tracy Bonham and Romeo Void.—
The Providence Journal,
The Providence Journal,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Stewart is scheduled to air her ads on the Fox News Channel, which was a highly effective strategy for Republican Bob Stefanowski in the 2018 race as the prime viewing network for hard-core Republican insiders and delegates.—
Christopher Keating,
Hartford Courant,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The emails were originally unearthed during a sweeping internal affairs investigation, which revealed in 2015 that Miami Beach officers had exchanged hundreds of racist, sexist and pornographic messages via their city email accounts.—
Aaron Leibowitz,
Miami Herald,
14 Mar. 2026
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According to the criminal complaint, the victims told police that Meyers asked them to send nude photos or make pornographic videos.—
Ross Guidotti,
CBS News,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Bracketed by a song about ICE disappearing US citizens and another song with a visceral description of torture, this erotic vision of national unity is more than simply titillating.—
Stephen M. Deusner,
Pitchfork,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Winnie Cheung, United States, 2025 A motorcycle rebel spirals deeper into her erotic hallucinations in order to escape the grip of a sultry serpent woman.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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For many readers and critics, the perception was that Mansfield was almost writing children’s fiction, since most of her stories are deceptively easy to read, although her themes are entirely adult in both form and content.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Dec. 2025
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Justin Vernon’s midwestern charm and pliable falsetto has always endeared him to indie-rock dads raised on Michael McDonald, but starting a family himself between Bon Iver projects turned this year’s Sable, Fable into a deep examination of the fatherly adult contemporary figure in popular music.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Think press-on nails, sexy stretch denim, and patterned blouses.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Mar. 2026
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The effect was to make solitude sound sexy, sad, and hopeful at once.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Indeed, Sala is where the mature Myers Park crowd goes for after work hobnobbing, small bites and aperitifs.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
16 Mar. 2026
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Netflix’s live-action One Piece is deep into production on Season 3, with the beloved Arabasta arc taking center stage, a wave of new casting locked in, and stars teasing a darker, more mature tone ahead.—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The content of its productions has included legitimate theater, vaudeville, burlesque, striptease, movies (many X-rated), classical music and jazz as well as occasional forays into boxing, bodybuilding and politics.—
Dan Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
21 Sep. 2025
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For the first seven years of the rating system (1969-1975), nearly half of the top films (33 of 70) were R- or X-rated.—
Tom Brueggemann,
IndieWire,
26 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Soft-core.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soft-core. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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