soft power
soft power noun: political influence that is extended by means of diplomacy, media, international assistance, cultural exchanges, etc., rather than by such "hard" means as military intervention or punitive economic measures.
Noun
soft power (countable and uncountable, plural soft powers)
- Political influence that is extended by means of diplomacy, media, international assistance, cultural exchanges, etc., rather than by such "hard" means as military intervention or punitive economic measures.
- Soft power is a country's cultural and ideological appeal. It is the ability to get desired outcomes through attraction instead of force.1999 March 8, Joseph S. Nye Jr., “The Challenge of Soft Power”, in Time
- The bank often provides the hard currency for Chinese soft power aspirations: In Africa, China ExIm has handed out more than $7 billion in loans in recent years.2007 May 23, Jim Yardley, “Blocked by U.S., China finds it own way to space”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2019, retrieved 16 Jul 2011
- A state having this kind of power.
soft power meaning in Arabic, Malay, Indonesian and Vietnamese
soft power in Arabic
- political influence that is extended by means of diplomacy, international assistance, cultural exchanges, etc.
- القُوَّة النَّاعِمَة
soft power in Malay
- political influence that is extended by means of diplomacy, international assistance, cultural exchanges, etc.
- kuasa lunak, kuasa lembut
soft power in Indonesian
- political influence that is extended by means of diplomacy, international assistance, cultural exchanges, etc.
- kekuatan lunak, kekuasaan lunak
soft power in Vietnamese
- political influence that is extended by means of diplomacy, international assistance, cultural exchanges, etc.
- quyền lực mềm
Examples of soft power in a sentence
- India will set up cultural centres in five more countries to showcase its soft power and acquire a global footprint for its rich diversity, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Saturday.2011 January 8, “More Indian cultural centres to showcase soft power: PM”, in Indiaweb123.com, archived from the original on 17 Aug 2018...
- But for all its contemporary soft power — the “Emily in Paris” tie-in, the medals displayed in Louis Vuitton trunks — these Paris Olympics will also be a throwback.2024 July 25, Jason Farago, “Why the Olympics’ Parade of Nations Is the World’s Costume Party”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from...
Forms of soft power
| plural | soft powers |
|---|
Origin of soft power
Coined by American political scientist Joseph Nye in the late 1980s and popularized in the 1990 book “Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power”.
Questions about soft power
- What does soft power mean?
- Soft power means political influence that is extended by means of diplomacy, media, international assistance, cultural exchanges, etc., rather than by such "hard" means as military intervention or punitive economic measures.
- What is soft power in Arabic?
- Soft power in Arabic is القُوَّة النَّاعِمَة. See Soft power meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use soft power in a sentence?
- India will set up cultural centres in five more countries to showcase its soft power and acquire a global footprint for its rich diversity, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Saturday.
- What part of speech is soft power?
- Soft power is a noun.
- What is the plural of soft power?
- The plural of soft power is soft powers.
Words near soft power in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: soft power (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-soft power.wav.
Cite this entry: “soft power.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/soft_power. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.