Good man, soft, maybe dear (5)
I believe the answer is:
padre
'good man' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'soft maybe dear' is the wordplay.
'soft' becomes 'p' (musical abbreviation for piano, 'soft').
'maybe' indicates anagramming the letters.
'dear' anagrammed gives 'adre'.
'p'+'adre'='PADRE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for padre that I've seen before include "non-combatant officer" , "A military clergyman" , "Priest, chaplain" , "Sky pilot (military slang)" , "Cleric" .)