Phonosemantic compound. 車 represents the meaning and 耎 represents the sound.
Components
Traditional (軟)
車 Meaning component
car
ruǎn weak
weak, pliable, soft, yielding
欠 is shorthand for the phonetic 耎 component in the variant character 輭.
Simplified (软)
欠 Simplified component
qiàn deficient
owe, lack, be deficient
欠 is shorthand for the phonetic 耎 component in the variant character 輭.
Notes
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Similar Characters
輭 flexible (archaic)墼 庫 warehouse (trad/jp)斬 hew (trad/jp)軋 flatten (trad)軌 rails (trad/jp)軍 army (trad/jp)軒 veranda (trad/jp)軔 Block A Block That (trad)軛 collar (trad)軫 cross board at (trad)軲 Wheel A Wheel (trad)軸 axle (trad/jp)軻 personal (trad)軼 rush (trad)軾 horizontal (trad)輂 horse carriage較 relatively (trad/jp)載 laden (trad/jp)輊 low (trad)
Historical Evolution
軟
Clerical
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
軟
Regular
Modern
Chinese
软 / 軟 [ruǎn]
soft; flexible
Japanese
soft
Example Sentences
CHINESE WORDS (124)
软件 [ruǎnjiàn] #5,726
(computer) software
软弱 [ruǎnruò] #4,912
weak
柔软 [róuruǎn] #6,951
soft
微软 [Wēiruǎn] #3,650
Microsoft corporation
软糖 [ruǎntáng] #9,447
soft candy (gummi candy, gumdrop, jellybean etc)
手软 [shǒuruǎn] #13,991
to be lenient
软骨 [ruǎngǔ] #20,077
cartilage
心软 [xīnruǎn] #15,254
to be softhearted
软禁 [ruǎnjìn] #14,550
house arrest
软组织 [ruǎnzǔzhī] #22,107
soft tissue
114 more
items
JAPANESE WORDS (115)
⭐ 柔らかい [やわらかい] #1,689
soft
⭐ 柔らか [やわらか] #3,829
soft
⭐ 柔軟 [じゅうなん] #8,049
flexible
⭐ 軟弱 [なんじゃく] #16,071
weakness
⭐ 軟禁 [なんきん] #20,346
house arrest
柔軟性 [じゅうなんせい] #25,154
flexibility
⭐ 軟化 [なんか] #29,851
softening
軟膏 [なんこう] #33,735
ointment
柔らかな光 [やわらかなひかり] #41,655
soft light
⭐ 軟派 [なんぱ] #44,411
seducer
105 more
items