soft sell

¹ American  

noun

1. a method of advertising or selling that is quietly persuasive, subtle, and indirect (hard sell ).

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soft-sell ² American  

[sawft-sel, soft-] / ˈsɔftˈsɛl, ˈsɒft- /

verb (used with object)

soft-sold, soft-selling

1. to promote (a product, service, etc.) using indirect or gentle persuasion.

   an advertising campaign to soft-sell a new perfume.

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adjective

1. (of a sales technique) quietly or indirectly persuasive.

   a soft-sell approach to marketing.

soft sell British  

noun

1. a method of selling based on indirect suggestion or inducement Compare hard sell

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soft sell Idioms  

1. see hard sell, def. 1.

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Etymology

Origin of soft sell¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Origin of soft-sell²

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

No one takes himself or the subject too seriously in Mr. Scheinfeld’s film; if its arguments are convincing, it’s because of a very soft sell.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

You can see how they use the soft sell to push these ideas into the mainstream.

From Salon • Aug. 6, 2024

And negotiations with the holding companies weren’t exactly a soft sell, with warnings of living in “a war zone” of trucks and construction if they didn’t cooperate.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 28, 2022

Netflix specializes in the soft sell, expecting viewers to stumble across its original films while scrolling through menus of suggestions.

From New York Times • Jul. 13, 2018

Day One of the county's mass homeless project started out as a soft sell.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2018