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facile - 10 dictionary results

fac⋅ile

  [fas-il or, especially Brit., -ahyl]
Use facile in a Sentence
–adjective
1. moving, acting, working, proceeding, etc., with ease, sometimes with superficiality: facile fingers; a facile mind.
2. easily done, performed, used, etc.: a facile victory; a facile method.
3. easy or unconstrained, as manners or persons.
4. affable, agreeable, or complaisant; easily influenced: a facile temperament; facile people.
Origin:
1475–85; < L facilis that can be done, easy, equiv. to fac(ere) to do, make + -ilis -ile

Related forms:
fac⋅ile⋅ly, adverb
fac⋅ile⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. smooth, flowing, fluent; glib. 2. superficial. 3. bland, suave; urbane.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To facile
fac·ile   (fās'əl)   
adj.  
  1. Done or achieved with little effort or difficulty; easy. See Synonyms at easy.
  2. Working, acting, or speaking with effortless ease and fluency.
  3. Arrived at without due care, effort, or examination; superficial: proposed a facile solution to a complex problem.
  4. Readily manifested, together with an aura of insincerity and lack of depth: a facile slogan devised by politicians.
  5. Archaic Pleasingly mild, as in disposition or manner.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin facilis; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]
fac'ile·ly adv., fac'ile·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Main Entry:  facile1
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  easily accomplished or attained; easy
Etymology:  Latin facilis 'easy to do'
Main Entry:  facile2
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  flowing; moving effortlessly
Etymology:  Latin facilis 'easy to do'
Main Entry:  facile3
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  affable and courteous; mild
Etymology:  Latin facilis 'easy to do'
Main Entry:  facile4
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  compliant, yielding; docile
Etymology:  Latin facilis 'easy to do'
Main Entry:  facile5
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  resourceful, quick; expert
Etymology:  Latin facilis 'easy to do'
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2009 Dictionary.com, LLC
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Language Translation for : facile
Spanish: chollo,
German: bequem,
Japanese: 楽な
More Translations »

Facile

Fac"ile\a. [L. facilis, prop., capable of being done or made, hence, facile, easy, fr. facere to make, do: cf. F. facile. Srr Fact, and cf. Faculty.]

1. Easy to be done or performed: not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor.

Order . . . will render the work facile and delightful. --Evelyn.

2. Easy to be surmounted or removed; easily conquerable; readily mastered.

The facile gates of hell too slightly barred. --Milton.

3. Easy of access or converse; mild; courteous; not haughty, austere, or distant; affable; complaisant.

I meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet. --B. Jonson.

4. Easily persuaded to good or bad; yielding; ductile to a fault; pliant; flexible.

Since Adam, and his facile consort Eve, Lost Paradise, deceived by me. --Milton.

This is treating Burns like a child, a person of so facile a disposition as not to be trusted without a keeper on the king's highway. --Prof. Wilson.

5. Ready; quick; expert; as, he is facile in expedients; he wields a facile pen. -- Fac"ile-ly, adv. -- Fac"ile*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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facile 
1483, from M.Fr. facile "easy," from L. facilis "easy to do" and, of persons, "pliant, courteous," from facere "to do" (see factitious). Facilitate is from 1611.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Facile language
A concurrent extension of ML from ECRC.
(http://ecrc.de/facile/facile_home.html).
["Facile: A Symmetric Integration of Concurrent and Functional Programming", A. Giacalone et al, Intl J Parallel Prog 18(2):121-160, Apr 1989].
(1994-12-01)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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