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 pliant

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

Examples from the Web for pliant

Contemporary Examples of pliant

The ad reminds readers that there is no income tax in Texas, that the state has budget surpluses and “pliant labor laws.”
Texas Calls All Gun-Toting Yanks
David Freedlander
January 16, 2013
Bank bosses who refused were simply replaced with pliant sycophants.
Hold Onto Your Penis
David Frum, Justin Green
November 29, 2012
He called that pliant decision the biggest mistake of his presidency.
Speed Read: The Clinton Tapes
The Daily Beast
September 29, 2009

Historical Examples of pliant

So slight, yet so round, so trim, yet so pliant—she was grace itself.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
The pileus is thin, pliant when fresh but somewhat brittle when dry.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
Unhappily I am not a Greek woman, pliant to the whims of artists and voluptuaries.
King Candaules
Thophile Gautier
Bend to the earth our pliant knees, And speak—but as our masters please?
The Liberty Minstrel
George W. Clark
The atmosphere that surrounds us is so often treacherous to our pliant natures!
The Choice of Life
Georgette Leblanc

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

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.