pliant

[ plahy-uhnt ]
See synonyms for pliant on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. bending readily; flexible; supple; adaptable: She manipulated the pliant clay.

  2. easily influenced; yielding to others; compliant: He has a pliant nature.

Origin of pliant

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old French, present participle of the verbplier ply2; see -ant

synonym study For pliant

1, 2. See flexible.

Other words for pliant

Other words from pliant

  • pli·an·cy, pli·ant·ness, noun
  • pli·ant·ly, adverb
  • non·pli·an·cy, noun
  • non·pli·ant, adjective
  • non·pli·ant·ly, adverb
  • non·pli·ant·ness, noun
  • un·pli·an·cy, noun
  • un·pli·ant, adjective
  • un·pli·ant·ly, adverb
  • un·pli·ant·ness, noun

Words Nearby pliant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pliant in a sentence

  • Other men might find her pliant, pleasing, seductive; he alone knew her as disinterested.

    The Life of Nelson, Vol. I (of 2) | A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan
  • Not merely tall, but pliant, elastic, and graceful in no ordinary degree.

    Honor O'callaghan | Mary Russell Mitford
  • In every American city with a large pliant foreign vote have appeared the boss, the machine, and the Tammany way.

    The Old World in the New | Edward Alsworth Ross

British Dictionary definitions for pliant

pliant

/ (ˈplaɪənt) /


adjective
  1. easily bent; supple: a pliant young tree

  2. easily modified; adaptable; flexible: a pliant system

  1. yielding readily to influence; compliant

Origin of pliant

1
C14: from Old French, from plier to fold, bend; see ply ²

Derived forms of pliant

  • pliancy or pliantness, noun
  • pliantly, adverb

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