Qualities
Synonyms for gentle
Synonyms for gentle: soft, docile and easy. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.
The 3 synonyms for gentle
Interchangeable with gentle, one per sense
Audited under gentle's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one gentle carries in that sense.
Recorded from the other side of the pair
These entries were written under the other word and name gentle as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.
- easyeasy is an adjective in the sense "marked by moderate steepness"
two of these come from gentle's own entries in the bank, and one was audited from the other word's side of the pair. Both directions were read by a human, and only the sense quoted differs.
soft and mild
A vein of gentle irony.
gentle in 2 more sentences, same sense
- The head chef offered a gentle mockery of the new cook's overcooked risotto, more amused than annoyed.
- The old vendor greeted rude customers with a gentle sarcasm that defused arguments before they started.
How it behaves: In this sense gentle typically appears attributively before an abstract noun of tone or manner, such as irony, mockery, sarcasm, or reminder, and suits a semi-formal to literary register.
The true synonym
soft
Same sentence, swapped: A vein of soft irony.
Close but different
The game shows these three beside the answer. Each is a real word with a real meaning and none of them fits the slot gentle is in above, which is the point the reason line makes.
- blue
- noble
- bust
Opposites, in this sense
harsh, sharp and biting reverse gentle as it is used in the sentence above. A different sense of gentle takes different opposites, which is why these sit inside the sense and not at the top of the page.
- harsh
- sharp
- biting
easily handled or managed
A gentle old horse that any child can ride.
The true synonym
docile
Same sentence, swapped: A docile old horse that any child can ride.
Close but different
Distractors, not synonyms. This entry has no written reason line yet, so read them against the sentence and the sense above.
- soft
- blue
- distant
Where gentle turns up in the game
gentle is the word under test in two puzzles, spread across two difficulty tiers. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in six other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.
4 of the 6 puzzles where gentle is the trap
- distantadjective, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is remote, in the sense "far apart in relevance or relationship or kinship", and gentle is on the board beside it.
- easeverb, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is comfort, in the sense "lessen pain or discomfort", with gentle sitting one tile away.
- craggyadjective, Tier 2, Treeline. The answer there is jagged, in the sense "having many steep, rough, jagged rocks", and gentle is one of the three tiles that lose.
- piercingadjective, Tier 2, Treeline. The answer there is keen, in the sense "of wind or cold, sharp and penetrating", and gentle is on the board beside it.
Play gentle
The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so gentle reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.
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The ring widens as it goes, from qualities at Foothills outward to the whole bank.
The wrong tile gets explained too
Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. gentle carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.