supple

[ suhp-uh l ]

/ ˈsʌp əl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR supple ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, sup·pler, sup·plest.

bending readily without breaking or becoming deformed; pliant; flexible: a supple bough.

characterized by ease in bending; limber; lithe: supple movements.

characterized by ease, responsiveness, and adaptability in mental action.

compliant or yielding.

obsequious; servile.

verb (used with or without object), sup·pled, sup·pling.

to make or become supple.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

supper club, suppertime, suppiluliumas i, supplant, supplantation, supple, supplejack, supplely, supplement, supplemental, supplemental air

Origin of supple

1250–1300; (adj.) Middle English souple flexible, compliant < Old French: soft, yielding, lithe < Latin supplic- (stem of supplex) submissive, suppliant, equivalent to sup- sup- + -plic-, variously explained as akin to plicāre to fold¹, bend (thus meaning “bent over”; cf. complex), or to plācāre to placate¹ (thus meaning “in the attitude of a suppliant”); (v.) Middle English supplen to soften, derivative of the noun (compare Old French asoplir)

Related formssup·ple·ness, nounun·sup·ple, adjectiveun·sup·ple·ness, nounun·sup·p·ly, adverb

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

Examples from the Web for suppleness

I do not have the suppleness of 20 but I have something much more important… And you see that when you see the show.
Philippe Petit’s Moment of Concern Walking the WTC Tightrope|Anthony Haden-Guest|August 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
According to Clark, the “hypertrophic forms of masculinity” then prevalent favored “unyielding forcefulness” over “suppleness.”
The Utterly Pointless First World War|Michael F. Bishop|May 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But hindered by the bonds that bound her, she was unable to follow with suppleness the motion of her mount.
The Branding Needle, or The Monastery of Charolles|Eugne Sue
He had a fencer's suppleness of wrist and balance of body; he pressed Wogan hard and without flurry.
Clementina|A.E.W. Mason

This behaviour had more effect upon Roda than the suppleness of Capres.
The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume III.(of III) 1574-84|John Lothrop Motley
Her body stretched backward like a bow, and, when it had recovered its suppleness, she fell as if dead.
A Mummer's Tale|Anatole France
In adroit resource and suppleness no diplomatist could match him.
Horace|William Tuckwell

British Dictionary definitions for suppleness

supple

/ (ˈsʌpəl) /

adjective

bending easily without damage

capable of or showing easy or graceful movement; lithe

mentally flexible; responding readily

disposed to agree, sometimes to the point of servility

verb

rare to make or become supple

Derived Formssuppleness, noun

Word Origin for supple

C13: from Old French souple, from Latin supplex bowed

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 suppleness

supple

adj.

c.1300, from Old French souple "pliant, flexible," from Gallo-Romance *supples, from Latin supplex (genitive supplicis) "submissive, humbly begging," literally "bending, kneeling down," thought to be an altered form of *supplacos "humbly pleading, appeasing," from sub "under" + placare "appease" (see placate).