a soft touch

a soft touch

1. A kind and tender way of acting. I don't have the patience to be a kindergarten teacher, but you'll be great at it because you have a really soft touch.
2. One who is easy to control or manipulate; one who bends to the desires or demands of others. Julia is a soft touch—we can get her to help us with this prank. My dad was pretty strict when we were growing up, but he turned into a real soft touch when he got older.
See also: soft, touch

soft touch

One who is easy to control or manipulate; one who bends to the desires or demands of others. My dad was pretty strict when we were growing up, but he turned into a real soft touch when he got older. Julia is a soft touch—I bet we can get her to shoplift for us.
See also: soft, touch
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

soft touch

 
1. a gentle way of handling someone or something. Bess has a soft touch and can bring both sides together. Kelly lacks the kind of soft touch needed for this kind of negotiation.
2. a gullible person; a likely victim of a scheme. John is a soft touch. You can always ask him for a few bucks. Here comes the perfect soft touch—a nerd with a gleam in his eye.
See also: soft, touch
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

soft touch

Someone easily persuaded or taken advantage of, especially in giving away money. For example, Ask Dan for the money; he's always a soft touch. [First half of 1900s]
See also: soft, touch
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

a soft touch

or

an easy touch

COMMON If someone is a soft touch or an easy touch, it is easy to make them do what you want or give you what you want. He did not get where he is today by being either a soft touch or a poor judge of his businesses. Pamela was an easy touch when she needed some cash. Note: To touch a person for money means to approach them and persuade them to let you have some money as a loan or a gift.
See also: soft, touch
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a soft (or easy) touch

someone who is easily manipulated; a person or task easily handled. informal
A touch was mid 19th-century criminal slang for the act of getting money from a person, either by pickpocketing or by persuasion. Touch was later extended to refer to the person targeted in this way, and a soft touch was specifically a person from whom money could easily be obtained.
1998 Times Henman can be something of a soft touch. For every leading player who touts his potential, two from the basement would relish his name in the draw.
See also: soft, touch
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

a soft/an easy ˈtouch

(informal) a kind and perhaps easily deceived person whom people ask for money, help, etc: Ask Tony to lend you some money. He’s a soft touch. OPPOSITE: a tough customer/cookie Touch was a slang term used by criminals to refer to the act of stealing something from someone, particularly from a pocket. A soft or easy touch was someone that it was easy to steal from.
See also: easy, soft, touch
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

soft touch

1. n. a gentle way of handling someone or something. Kelly lacks the kind of soft touch needed for this kind of negotiation.
2. n. a gullible person; a likely victim of a scheme. John is a soft touch for a few bucks.
See also: soft, touch
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

soft touch, a

A person who is easily imposed upon, especially to give or lend money. A twentieth-century expression that gained currency during the Great Depression, it appeared in John O’Hara’s Pal Joey (1940): “You get the reputation of being a soft touch.”
See also: soft
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a soft/an easy touch
  • soft touch
  • soft touch, a
  • an easy touch
  • easy touch
  • conceive
  • conceive of
  • conceive of (someone or something)
  • the patience of a saint
  • the patience of a saint/of Job
References in periodicals archive
I MUST agree with comments made by Kenny Surtees (The Gazette 25.08.16) on prison being a soft touch and a cushy number.
Seeing as the prisons are full, it stands to reason that it must be a soft touch. We had a recent article in The Gazette, where the new governor in Holme House Prison wanted his prison to be run more like an academy than a traditional prison.
made further I Seeing as the prisons are full, it stands to reason that it must be a soft touch. Peter Gibson of Thornaby
'Schools are for education, not jail!'
In fact a recent study by California Polytechnic State University showed not only did customers prefer cosmetics packaged in a container with a soft touch coating versus a traditional coating, they were willing to pay a 5% price premium.
In our second approach we attempted to create a soft touch coating with an existing trifunctional acrylate crosslinker and low functional acrylate monomers (AM) as the soft connecting segments instead of difunctional urethane acrylates.
New advances in UV-curable soft-touch coatings
A soft touch in the transfer market, a soft touch on the field.
And when Sir Alex Ferguson can sweet-talk into the phone and persuade the manager to sell Robin van Persie to him, then Arsene Wenger has become a soft touch as well.
MORE EDGE AT QUEEN'S CLUB
DuraGrip thermoplastic elastomer is said to enhance the value of end products through its performance characteristics and features, including a soft touch feel.
Soft-touch feel TPE
To meet the initial challenge for a lightweight and durable product with a soft touch, an aesthetically appealing solution was found by pairing Versaflex OM 1060 alloy overmolding onto Cycolac 4016 ABS substrate.
Quilters get comfort from plastics combination
Characteristics of the TPE nylon overmolding grade include a soft touch and rubbery feel, with durometer A hardness ranges from 52 to 76.
Thermoplastic alloys. (materials)
As described in the literature, the Orbit Sander required a strong visual appeal and a soft touch feel in the hand.
TPE alloy products. (Literature: materials)