adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Soft, flexible, easily bent, formed, shaped, or molded.

   "You will find the clay perfectly pliable as long as it stays moist."

2. 2
   Easily persuaded; yielding to influence.

Adjective

1. 1
   capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking wordnet
2. 2
   able to adjust readily to different conditions wordnet
3. 3
   capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out wordnet
4. 4
   susceptible to being led or directed wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

adaptablebendablefictilemalleablelimpabulic

Antonyms

All antonyms

brittle

Example

More examples

"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable."

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French ploiable, from ploiier (“to fold”). By surface analysis, ply + -able. Compare pliant.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.