soft focusadj.n.
/ˌsɒf(t) ˈfəʊkəs/, U.S. /ˌsɔf(t) ˈfoʊkəs/, /ˌsɑf(t) ˈfoʊkəs/ A. adj. (attributive). Usually with hyphen.
1. Characterized by or producing a deliberate slight blurring or lack of definition in a photograph, film, video, or other visual reproduction; photographed, filmed, etc., using this effect.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > qualities and effects > [adjective] > indistinct
foggy1854
veiled1856
fogged1891
soft-focused1906
soft focus1911
1911 Photo-Miniature June 391 They are about to introduce a new pictorial or soft-focus lens.
1940 A. L. M. Sowerby Wall's Dict. Photogr. (ed. 15) 600 The most pleasing soft-focus effects are obtained by superposing a diffused image upon a more sharply-defined one, this giving a kind of ‘halo’ round the lights.
1978 P. Theroux Picture Palace ix. 71 Photographs looked freckled and corpse-like, soft-focus poses that might have been painters' instant fossils.
1991 Photo Answers May (Photoguide Suppl.) 6/2 Lighting's one way of achieving it [sc. mood]. A soft-focus filter's another.
2013 New Yorker 14 Jan. 36/2 She sent him a soft-focus digital image of a girl who she said was her fourteen-year-old sister.
2. figurative. Diffuse, blurred, unclear, imprecise.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > [adjective] > obscure, vague
cloudyc1400
indeterminatec1400
diffuse1430
diffused?1456
obscure?a1475
infinite1520
ambiguous1529
indistincta1530
nubilous1533
dark1557
undetermined1588
undefinite1589
undeterminate1603
indetermined1611
undefined1611
suspense1624
umbrageous1635
clouded1641
undeterminated1641
fuliginous1646
implicit1660
vague1690
diffusive1709
nubilose1730
foggy1737
unliquidated1780
hazy1781
indecisive1815
nebulous1817
penumbral1819
aoristic1846
scumbled1868
nubiform1873
out-of-focus1891
fuzzy1937
soft focus1938
1938 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 1 June 7/1 A new powder that lends your skin a ‘soft-focus’ look.
1961 W. T. Jones Romantic Syndrome viii. 227 We might begin..by making a count of soft-focus imagery in the works of various poets.
1979 Listener 16 Aug. 214/4 This [play]..was full of winsome Irishness and soft-focus sentimentality.
2014 T. McCulloch Stillman 174 That little town, with all its beautiful strangeness..gave the world such soft-focus romanticism.
B. n.
Deliberate slight blurring or lack of definition in a photograph, film, video, etc. Frequently in in soft focus. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > qualities and effects > [noun] > indistinctness
veil1853
fogging1854
fog1856
halation1859
veiling1864
red fog1873
light fog1880
fuzz1889
soft focus1919
graininess1921
irradiation1924
unsharpness1961
1919 Kingston (Jamaica) Gleaner 29 Jan. 13/4 I shall only rotate my diffusing adjustment and enter into soft focus.
1929 Parnassus 1 42/2 The intense regard of this style for effects of light and contrasts of shadow produce most effective results in soft focus.
1961 W. T. Jones Romantic Syndrome viii. 235 Once the critic replaces a vague liking for ‘romantic qualities’ with a preference for ‘soft-focus’..he is much more likely to make an adequate assessment of the work of the poets and painters.
2007 H. Kunzru My Revol. 136 Sam..had always craved the Christmas advertised on television, the big family party shot in golden soft focus.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1911