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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.

RELATED WORDS

docile, compliant, pliable, supple, malleable, obedient, tractable, yielding, adaptable, elastic, flexible, limber, plastic, amenable, ductile, governable, lissome, manageable, soft, susceptible

Nearby words

  1. pleyel,
  2. plf,
  3. plf.,
  4. pli,
  5. pliable,
  6. pliantly,
  7. plica,
  8. plicae,
  9. plicate,
  10. plicately

Origin of pliant

1300–50; Middle English < Old French, present participle of plier to ply2; see -ant
SYNONYMS FOR pliant
1, 2. pliable, flexile. See flexible. 2. manageable, tractable, docile.
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pliant ON THESAURUS.COM
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pliant

British Dictionary definitions for pliant

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 pliant

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper