soft-heartedadj.

1571 [implied in: Dict. French & Eng. sig. T.iij/1 Mercy, pitie, mercye, softhartednesse.].

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Hh4 There was neuer foolish softe harted mother, that forced to beate her childe, did weepe first for his paines.

1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida i. sig. C2 Why weepes soft hearted Florisell?

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iii. ii. 311 Fye Coward woman, and soft harted wretch. View more context for this quotation

1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) xviii. ix. 271 Hear then, O all softhearted Turtles.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. v. x. 108 The soft-hearted Mr. Arnott.

1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xiv. 164 He was only a soft-hearted grateful fellow.

1881 B. Jowett tr. Thucydides Hist. Peloponnesian War I. 195 Do not be soft-hearted at the sight of their distress.

1918 W. Cather My Ántonia i. ix. 76 He was so soft-hearted that anyone could impose upon him.

1961 N. Roy Black Albino 64 Tomaso's revelation of his parents and how they died, won the sympathy of the softhearted people.

2000 R. B. Parker Perish Twice (2001) 28 She's much too softhearted to turn you down.

1571 Dict. French & Eng. sig. T.iij/1 Mercy, pitie, mercye, softhartednesse.

1739 H. Baker & J. Miller tr. Molière Melicerte i. iv, in Molière Wks. IX. 325 I am like my late Wife for Soft-heartedness, and I feel, like her, a great deal of Humanity for the Desires of another, and am not one of a cruel Disposition.

1874 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 711 A reputation for soft-heartedness goes far with the crowd.

1946 Liberty 25 May 88/3 The rising tide of ‘softheartedness’ in England and America toward Germany and Germans disconcerts..every Czech.

2008 Guardian (Nexis) 20 June She has been persuaded by her children to err on the side of soft-heartedness towards her errant ex-spouse.