resilience
Americannoun
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the power or ability of a material to return to its original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.
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the ability of a person to adjust to or recover readily from illness, adversity, major life changes, etc.; buoyancy.
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the ability of a system or organization to respond to or recover readily from a crisis, disruptive process, etc..
Cities can build resilience to climate change by investing in infrastructure.
noun
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Also: resiliency. the state or quality of being resilient
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ecology the ability of an ecosystem to return to its original state after being disturbed
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physics the amount of potential energy stored in an elastic material when deformed
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of resilience
First recorded in 1620–30; see resili(ent) + -ence
Explanation
Truly, your resilience, or ability to bounce back, is not just admirable, but foolhardy, some might say; who else could have survived an attack by a rabid toucan and then gone on to become a world-renowned bird breeder? The noun resilience stems from the Latin resiliens, “to rebound, recoil.” As a character trait, resilience is a person’s ability to recover quickly from unfortunate circumstances or illness. Runners who fall during a marathon only to pop back up and dash through the finish line show some serious resilience. Or Silly Putty that can stretch and stretch without breaking, and then come back to rest inside its egg-shaped carrying case — that’s resilience, or elasticity, for you.
Vocabulary lists containing resilience
List 3
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Hamilton
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Power Prefix: re-
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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.
The rescue teams – both Venezuelan and international – have worked through another night showing impressive resilience and focus to try to reach those trapped relatives.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026
Gourinchas said that emerging economies had shown remarkable resilience through the shocks of the last five years, mainly due to greater supply-chain integration -- but that resilience was not infinite.
From Barron's • Jun. 26, 2026
"Hopefully, my work has contributed to the resilience from climate change and the incremental improvements will allow the club to continue to flourish into the future."
From BBC • Jun. 25, 2026
If policymakers want resilience, they should focus more on accelerating the deployment of renewable energy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
She’d heard, in Malia’s answer, both the resilience and the vulnerability, an echo of all that we lived with and all we tried to keep at bay.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
