PLIANT
(plnt)
adj.
DEFINITION:
1. Easily bent or flexed; pliable.
2. Easily altered or modified to fit conditions.
3. Yielding readily to influence or domination.
4. Capable of being influenced or formed.
5. Able to adjust readily to different conditions.
SAMPLE SENTENCES:
Shiny vinyls are supple and pliant.
The wires were so light and pliant that I could hardly feel the neatly braided rig-up on my head.
Just as they are flexible in the tasks they perform on the job, workers have to be pliant when it comes to their shifts.
Under the magic of many skillful hands the pliant boughs are soon tied and twisted into a thousand devices.
Caulk and glazing that remains pliant or that has hardened but can not be crumbled by hand pressure is considered non-friable.
WORD ORIGIN AND HISTORY:
c.1300, from O.Fr. pliant "bending" (13c.), prp. of plier "to bend" (see ply (n.)). Figurative sense of "easily influenced" is from c.1400.
RELATED FORMS:
pliancy, pliantness, noun
pliantly, adverb
nonpliancy, noun
nonpliant, adjective
nonpliantly, adverb
SYNONYMS:
pliable, flexile. See flexible, manageable, tractable, docile.