Word.ws English Dictionary

tread softly

tread softly verb: to tread lightly.

Verb

tread softly (third-person singular simple present treads softly, present participle treading softly, simple past trod softly or treaded softly, past participle trodden softly or trod softly or treaded softly)

  1. To tread lightly.

Noun

tread softly (uncountable)

  1. Chaya or tree spinach (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius).
  2. Bull or spurge nettle (Cnidoscolus stimulosus).
  3. Carolina horsenettle (Solanum carolinense).

Forms of tread softly

Verb
third-person singular presenttreads softly
present participletreading softly
pasttrod softly
pasttreaded softly
past participletrodden softly
past participletrod softly
past participletreaded softly
Noun
alternative formtread-softly

Questions about tread softly

What does tread softly mean?
Tread softly means to tread lightly.
What part of speech is tread softly?
Tread softly can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of tread softly?
The past tense of tread softly is trod softly.

Words near tread softly in the dictionary

  1. tread on
  2. tread on eggshells
  3. tread on someone's corns
  4. tread on someone's toes
  5. tread out
  6. tread softly
  7. tread the boards
  8. tread the stage
  9. tread upon
  10. tread water
  11. tread-lightly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tread softly (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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Cite this entry: “tread softly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tread_softly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.