Pliable
['plaɪəb(ə)l] or ['plaɪəbl]
Definition
(v.) Capable of being plied, turned, or bent; easy to be bent; flexible; pliant; supple; limber; yielding; as, willow is a pliable plant.
(v.) Flexible in disposition; readily yielding to influence, arguments, persuasion, or discipline; easy to be persuaded; -- sometimes in a bad sense; as, a pliable youth.
Checked by Amy
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Flexible, flexile, pliant, supple, limber, lithe, lithesome, easily bent.[2]. Compliant, yielding, manageable, tractable, DOUGH-FACED, easily persuaded.
Edited by Georgina
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Flexible, supple, limber, like, ductile, yielding, manageable, facile, lithe,pliant
ANT:Stiff, stubborn, brittle, unbending, unyielding, unmanageable, inexorable
Editor: Zeke
Definition
adj. easily bent or folded: supple: easily persuaded: yielding to influence.—ns. Pliabil′ity Plī′ableness quality of being pliable or flexible.—adv. Plī′ably in a pliable manner.—ns. Plī′ancy Plī′antness the state of being pliant: readiness to be influenced.—adj. Plī′ant bending easily: flexible: tractable: easily influenced.—adv. Plī′antly.
Typed by Jed
Examples
- More pliable under change than her sister, Laura showed more plainly the progress made by the healing influences of her new life. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Trifling variations in the ingredients, in the proportion and in the heating, made it either pliable as kid, tougher than ox hide, as elastic as whalebone, or as rigid as flint. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- My sister Sarah, with all the advantages of youth, was, strangely enough, less pliable. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- While glass is in the soft, yielding, pliable state, it is molded into dishes, bottles, and other useful objects, such as lamp shades, globes, etc. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- It lies near the pliable elasticity by which some persons take on the color of their surroundings while retaining their own bent. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- We all know that leather is the skins of animals, dressed and prepared for our use by tanning, or some other process, which preserves them from rotting and renders them pliable and tough. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- This is used mostly in tanning soft, glovey upper leather, which when finished makes a very tough yet soft and pliable leather for footwear. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- The frame is stoutly constructed, and the face thickly upholstered with scrap leather and a heavy but pliable covering. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- If the specimen is fleshy or brittle allow it to wilt until it becomes more pliable, or if necessary it may be pressed and dried first. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- Who could be much with so pliable and beautiful a creature, and not yield to her endearing influence? Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- She is pliable, and I can be strong in my recommendations of him. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
Typed by Jed