pliant

[plahy-uhnt]

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adjective

bending readily; flexible; supple; adaptable: She manipulated the pliant clay.

easily influenced; yielding to others; compliant: He has a pliant nature.

Origin of pliant

1300–50; Middle English < Old French, present participle of plier to ply²; see -ant

Related formspli·an·cy, pli·ant·ness, nounpli·ant·ly, adverbnon·pli·an·cy, nounnon·pli·ant, adjectivenon·pli·ant·ly, adverbnon·pli·ant·ness, nounun·pli·an·cy, nounun·pli·ant, adjectiveun·pli·ant·ly, adverbun·pli·ant·ness, noun

Synonyms for pliant

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pliant ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. pliable, flexile. See flexible. 2. manageable, tractable, docile.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pliancy

resiliency, pliability, affability, plasticity, give, spring, compliance, elasticity, bounce, complaisance, suppleness, tractability, springiness, malleability, ductility, resilience, docility, flaccidity, adjustability, extensibility

Examples from the Web for pliancy

Historical Examples of pliancy

Not a trace was left of her former manner; all was ease, pliancy, and elegance.
The Daltons, Volume I (of II)
Charles James Lever
The difficulty was, then, to give to old wood the pliancy of young.
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
It is exactly this pliancy, so foreign to your character and habits, which makes me tremble.
The Bee Hunters
Gustave Aimard
Mrs. Mortimer put her motherly arms about the girl, but she found no pliancy.
The Carpet from Bagdad
Harold MacGrath
Immersion in hot water, however, restores its softness and pliancy.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for pliancy

pliant

adjective

easily bent; supplea pliant young tree

easily modified; adaptable; flexiblea pliant system

yielding readily to influence; compliant

Derived Formspliancy or pliantness, nounpliantly, adverb

Word Origin for pliant

C14: from Old French, from plier to fold, bend; see ply ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pliancy

pliant

adj.

late 14c., from Old French ploiant "bending, supple; compliant, fickle," as a noun, "turncoat" (13c.), present participle of ploier "to bend" (see ply (n.)). Figurative sense of "easily influenced" is from c.1400. Related: Pliancy.