soft-mindedness
Lack of rigor
Soft-mindedness is a tendency toward uncritical, sentimental, or wishful thinking—the opposite of hard-headed rationality.
The soft-minded accept ideas without rigorous examination, swayed by emotion or convenience rather than evidence: Martin Luther King Jr. warned against both hard-heartedness and soft-mindedness.
The term is pejorative, suggesting intellectual weakness or naïveté.
Easily influenced or affected
- suggestibleEasily influenced by others
- influenceableAble to be swayed
- persuadableAble to be convinced
- malleableCapable of being shaped
receptive · susceptible · manipulable · hypnotizable · swayable · easily-led · absorbent · responsive
Easily deceived
- credulousProne to blind trust
- naiveInnocently unsuspecting
- trustingInclined to believe others
- deceivedMisled into false belief
duped · foolish · unsuspecting · misled · exploited · hoodwinked · swindled · believing
Readily yielding to control
- docileEasily controlled or taught
- compliantYielding to others' wishes
- obedientFollowing commands willingly
- acquiescentAccepting without resistance
yielding · deferential · meek · biddable · tractable · amenable · conformist · passive
Lacking practical awareness
- unsophisticatedLacking refinement or complexity
- inexperiencedLacking practical knowledge
- greenColor of vegetation
- childlikeHaving youthful innocence
artless · guileless · wide-eyed · starry-eyed · idealistic · unschooled · sheltered · provincial
impressionable
Easily influenced or affected
- suggestibleEasily influenced by others
- influenceableAble to be swayed
- persuadableAble to be convinced
malleable · receptive · susceptible · manipulable · hypnotizable · swayable · easily-led · absorbent · responsive · moldable
gullible
Easily deceived
deceived · duped · foolish · unsuspecting · misled · exploited · hoodwinked · swindled · believing · ingenuous
submissive
Readily yielding to control
- docileEasily controlled or taught
- compliantYielding to others' wishes
- obedientFollowing commands willingly
acquiescent · yielding · deferential · meek · biddable · tractable · amenable · conformist · passive · unassertive
unworldly
Lacking practical awareness
- unsophisticatedLacking refinement or complexity
- inexperiencedLacking practical knowledge
- greenColor of vegetation
childlike · artless · guileless · wide-eyed · starry-eyed · idealistic · unschooled · sheltered · provincial · raw
soft-mindednesstough-mindedness
Unsentimental practical resolve
critical thinking · rigor · rationality · analytical thinking · clear-headedness
soft-mindednessmental toughness
Psychological resilience capacity
strong-mindedness · steeliness · resolve · mental fortitude · hardness
soft-mindednesspragmatism
Practical problem-solving philosophy
shrewdness · realism · practical wisdom · worldliness · street smarts
soft, mind, minds, minded, mindful, mindfully, mindfulness, mindless, mindlessly