malleability

American  

[mal-ee-uh-bil-i-tee] / ˌmæl i əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

Sometimes malleableness

noun

1. the state of being malleable, or capable of being shaped, as by hammering or pressing.

   the extreme malleability of gold.

2. adaptability.

   the malleability of an infant's brain.

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Other Word Forms

• nonmalleability
  noun
• nonmalleableness
  noun
• unmalleability
  noun

Etymology

Origin of malleability

First recorded in 1640–50; malle(able) ( def. ) + -ability ( def. )

Compare meaning

How does malleability compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• ductility vs. malleability

Explanation

Malleability is the quality of something that can be shaped into something else without breaking, like the malleability of clay. Malleability — also called plasticity — has to do with whether something can be molded. Clay (or Play-Doh) is the best example of something with high malleability; it can be sculpted into almost anything, so it's very malleable. A cinder block has no malleability at all; it can't be shaped into anything. Wet cement has great malleability, unlike dry cement. A person could also express malleability, if he or she is wishy-washy and can easily be molded by others.

Example Sentences

His stylistic malleability, undoubtedly a professional asset, led to inconsistency.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

A portrait of a body twice represented, Mehiel’s piece stressed the solidity and malleability of their own body, and the beauty they find within and around it.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 24, 2025

However, this suggests more about the relative malleability of our persona at the age of 20, when we’re still figuring out who we are and often look to movies for inspiration.

From Salon • Aug. 20, 2025

Her great subject turns out to be the malleability of identity itself, which may help explain why Horn describes an exhibition as a “group show of myself.”

From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2024

But more than the material nature of the gene, it was the sheer malleability of the genome—that X-rays could make such Silly Putty of genes—that stunned scientists.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee