resilient
Americanadjective
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(of an object or material) capable of regaining its original shape or position after bending, stretching, compression, or other deformation; elastic
-
(of a person) recovering easily and quickly from shock, illness, hardship, etc; irrepressible
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of resilient
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin resilient-, stem of resiliēns, present participle of resilīre “to spring back,” equivalent to re- re- + -sil-, combining form of salīre “to leap, jump”; see salient
Explanation
When something is strong and able to recover from damage quickly, call it resilient. If you're rough on your toys, the ones that don't break are resilient. Formed from the Latin verb resilire, "to leap back," a resilient person is able to recover from an illness or a bad experience quickly. Politicians who are resilient to media criticism do not let critical journalists affect their focus, performance, or relationship to their constituents. An object that is bent or stretched and returns to its original shape quickly is also resilient.
Vocabulary lists containing resilient
"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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Things Fall Apart
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Resilient macro data — at least in the limited data seen so far since the conflict began — is also a strong argument for the reactions stocks and energy markets have seen, he said.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 20, 2026
Kari Weaver is an interior designer who lost her home in the Palisades fire and a member of Resilient Palisades, a group that’s advocating all-electric rebuilds.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026
Resilient pillars of the U.S. economy, chief among them its defiant consumer base, propelled growth in the face of headwinds.
From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026
"Resilient growth and stable unemployment figures should not distract us from the deeper reality: hundreds of millions of workers remain trapped in poverty, informality, and exclusion," ILO chief Gilbert Houngbo said in a statement.
From Barron's • Jan. 14, 2026
Ivy took the green paper, which read, Resilient Helenwood: Claiming Our Future, Remembering Our Past, and stuffed it into her hand-me-down backpack.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
