pliability
Americannoun
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the quality of being easily bent without breaking; flexibility.
Sweet grass was favored by Native American basket makers for its sweet smell, pliability, and durability.
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the quality of adjusting readily to change; adaptability.
Education should take advantage of the pliability of a child's mind and encourage a sense of curiosity.
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the quality of being easily influenced or persuaded.
Recent political appointments have been based not on merit, competency, or ability, but on the candidate’s pliability, uncritical loyalty, and toadying behavior.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pliability
Explanation
The quality of being flexible, either literally or figuratively, is pliability. The pliability of aluminum foil is what makes it such a great material for wrapping your leftovers — or fashioning a crown for your cat. Clay's pliability is what makes it moldable. This word comes from the French pliable, "to bend," and a Latin root meaning "to fold." Anything you can bend, fold, twist or turn without breaking it has this quality of pliability. Figuratively, pliability refers to someone who's easy to "bend" or influence: "The pliability of those kids meant they'd believe anything they read online."
Vocabulary lists containing pliability
A Bend in the River
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Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 7
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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.
The pliability of the platform fed into our natural creativity in terms of how we repurpose things.
From Salon ● May 15, 2024
To add that missing dynamism, Morin and his colleagues turned to hydrogels, the class of water-infused polymers that lend soft contact lenses their pliability.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2023
“It shows the pliability of Scripture - the way that each group tries to marshal arguments on its behalf,” he said.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Tires use many materials and this new one transitions away from petroleum products to surplus soybean oil to maintain pliability.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 9, 2023
The saplings, cut when three to six years old, made excellent fork and spade handles on account of the toughness and pliability of their fibre.
From Trees Worth Knowing by Julia Ellen Rogers
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.
