soft landing

noun

A landing that does not result in the destruction of the payload or the vehicle.

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Meanings

soft landing1

nounsoft landing (countable and uncountable, plural soft landings)

plural soft landings

  1. countableaeronauticsA landing that does not result in the destruction of the payload or the vehicle.
  2. countableeconomicsA business cycle downturn which avoids recession.

    Hopes that the US economy is heading for a “soft landing” were boosted yesterday by the latest job figures, fuelling a rally in stocks and bonds.

    2023 November 4, Harriet Clarfelt, Jennifer Hughes, “Hopes build for US ‘soft landing’”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1
    1 more example

    The IMF said the global economy was gliding towards a “soft landing” after coping with the impact of tough central bank interest-rate action to reduce inflation.

    2024 January 30, Larry Elliott, “IMF warns Jeremy Hunt against tax cuts in budget”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
  3. uncountablechemistryA form of mass spectrometry characterized by deposition of intact species on surfaces at low kinetic energies which precludes the fragmentation of the incident species.
verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of soft land

soft landing2

nounsoft landing (plural soft landings)

plural soft landings

  1. slangrhythm gamesSudden or extreme changes in speed.

Origin

From the beatmania IIDX 2nd style song "SOFT LANDING ON THE BODY".

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan aterratge suau
  • aterratge suaulanding that does not result in the destruction of the payload and/or the vehicle
Dutch zachte landing
  • zachte landinglanding that does not result in the destruction of the payload and/or the vehicle
French atterrissage en douceur
  • atterrissage en douceurlanding that does not result in the destruction of the payload and/or the vehicle
German weiche Landung
  • weiche Landunglanding that does not result in the destruction of the payload and/or the vehicle
Italian atterraggio morbido
  • atterraggio morbidolanding that does not result in the destruction of the payload and/or the vehicle
Russian мя́гкая поса́дка
  • мя́гкая поса́дка (mjáxkaja posádka)landing that does not result in the destruction of the payload and/or the vehicle
Spanish aterrizaje suave
  • aterrizaje suavelanding that does not result in the destruction of the payload and/or the vehicle
Ukrainian м'яка́ поса́дка
  • м'яка́ поса́дка (mʺjaká posádka)landing that does not result in the destruction of the payload and/or the vehicle
Cite this entry
APA

soft landing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20landing

MLA

“soft landing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20landing. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “soft landing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20landing.

Source: soft landing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.