Differentiating 따뜻하다 and 따스하다?

Question

Besides *따뜻하다* having an extra usage to describe personality, *따뜻하다* and *따스하다* both mean *warm*, at least that's what I found in my dictionary. Are these words interchangeable, or do they have nuances/different degrees of warmth, etc?

Answer 1

Hello!

From my understanding 따뜻하다 and 따스하다 are interchangeable when used in the context of describing the temperature of something. For example, the weather (따뜻한 날씨 and 따스한 날씨)

However, 따뜻하다 can also be used in the context of a feeling, like a warm welcome (따뜻한 환영) or warm-hearted (마음이 따뜻한)