pliable

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: pli=a=ble

CIDE DICTIONARY

pliable, a. [F., fr. plier to bend, to fold. See Ply, v.].

•  Capable of being plied, turned, or bent; easy to be bent; flexible; pliant; supple; limber; yielding; as, willow is a pliable plant.  [1913 Webster]
•  Flexible in disposition; readily yielding to influence, arguments, persuasion, or discipline; easy to be persuaded; -- sometimes in a bad sense; as, a pliable youth.  Dr. H. More.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pliable, adj.
1 bending easily; supple.
2 yielding, compliant.

Derivative

pliability n. pliableness n. pliably adv.

Etymology

F f. plier bend: see PLY(1)

THESAURUS

pliable

abulic, accessible, adaptable, afraid, amenable, appliable, applicable, apt, bendable, bending, bendy, biddable, bright, clever, compliant, convenient, cowardly, creased, crimped, docile, dog-eared, doubled, ductile, educable, elastic, exploitable, extensible, extensile, fabricable, facile, faint, fainthearted, feasible, feeble, feebleminded, fictile, flexible, flexile, flexuous, flounced, fluted, foldable, folded, folding, foolproof, formable, formative, frail, gathered, giving, handy, impressible, impressionable, infirm, influenceable, instructable, intelligent, invertebrate, like putty, limber, lissome, lithe, lithesome, malleable, manageable, maneuverable, manipulable, manipulatable, moldable, motivated, movable, open, open-minded, operable, persuadable, persuasible, pervious, plaited, plastic, pleated, pliant, plicate, plicated, plicatile, practical, quick, quilled, ready, receptive, responsive, reusable, ripe for instruction, ruffled, schoolable, sensitive, sequacious, shapable, spineless, springy, suasible, submissive, suggestible, supple, susceptible, swayable, teachable, thirsty for knowledge, tractable, tractile, trainable, tucked, twilled, untroublesome, usable, utilizable, weak, weak-kneed, weak-minded, weak-willed, whippy, wieldable, wieldy, willing, willowy, workable, yielding

ROGET THESAURUS

pliable

Softness

N softness, pliableness, flexibility, pliancy, pliability, sequacity, malleability, ductility, tractility, extendibility, extensibility, plasticity, inelasticity, flaccidity, laxity, penetrability, clay, wax, butter, dough, pudding, alumina, argil, cushion, pillow, feather bed, down, padding, wadding, foam, mollification, softening, soft, tender, supple, pliant, pliable, flexible, flexile, lithe, lithesome, lissom, limber, plastic, ductile, tractile, tractable, malleable, extensile, sequacious, inelastic, aluminous, remollient, yielding, flabby, limp, flimsy, doughy, spongy, penetrable, foamy, cushiony, flaccid, flocculent, downy, edematous, oedematous, medullary, argillaceous, mellow, soft as butter, soft as down, soft as silk, yielding as wax, tender as chicken.