adjective
-
easily bent; supple
a pliant young tree
-
easily modified; adaptable; flexible
a pliant system
-
yielding readily to influence; compliant
Related Words
See flexible.
Other Word Forms
- nonpliancy noun
- nonpliant adjective
- nonpliantly adverb
- nonpliantness noun
- pliancy noun
- pliantly adverb
- pliantness noun
- unpliancy noun
- unpliant adjective
- unpliantly adverb
- unpliantness noun
Etymology
Origin of pliant
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old French, present participle of the verb plier ply 2; -ant
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.
But whether that would make Tehran more pliant, let alone spur regime change, is questionable.
From Los Angeles Times
“I know they think I’m a pliant little lapdog,” Martin tells Richard, “but I despise them as much as they despise the rest of us for not being them.”
He is a pliant enough actor to daub each portrait with just enough psychological color.
From Los Angeles Times
Her baskets are mostly the yellowish brown color of her main thread, strips of basket rush made pliant after soaking in water.
From Los Angeles Times
They see many CEOs as overpaid autocrats who pack boards with pliant, fee-hungry directors with no skin in the game.
From Barron's
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.
