soft sawder

noun

Cajoling or flattery.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounsoft sawder (uncountable)
  1. idiomaticobsoleteuncountableCajoling or flattery.

    1836, Thomas Haliburton, "The Trotting Horse" (1836) — first usage If she goes to act ugly, I'll give her a dose of "soft sawder"; that will take the frown out of her frontispiece...!

    2 more examples

    A sorrowful spectacle to men of reflection, during the time he lasted, that poor M. de Lamartine; with nothing in him but melodious wind and soft sawder, which he and others took for something divine and not diabolic!

    1850, Thomas Carlyle, “The present time”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets

    How the old boy swallowed my soft sawder and Brummagem notes!

    1863, Tom Taylor, The Ticket-of-Leave Man

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
ass-kissingblandishmentcarnyflatteringflattery

Origin

Phonetic spelling of soft solder; that is, solder that melts at a lower temperature. Coined by Thomas Haliburton in the short story "The Trotting Horse" (1836). Popular in the 19th century, but out of common use by 1950.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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