adjective
Other Word Forms
- nonpliable adjective
- nonpliably adverb
- pliability noun
- pliableness noun
- pliably adverb
- unpliable adjective
- unpliably adverb
Etymology
Origin of pliable
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from French, equivalent to pli(er) “to fold, bend” ( see ply 2) + -able -able
Explanation
Pliable means bendable but not breakable. Wax is pliable, good leather is pliable. If you describe a person as pliable, it usually means that he's easily influenced. When Madame barks "Plier!" (rhymes with "okay") in ballet class, all the students obediently bend their knees into a graceful semi-crouch. Plier is French for bend and it's the root of the word pliable. The word pliable itself is quite pliable, an apt description for everything from building materials to a person's character.
Vocabulary lists containing pliable
Power Suffix: -able
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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100 SAT words Beginning with "P"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The sculpture’s curved, draping form looks both stiff and pliable, cartoonish and menacing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025
This paradox raised a fundamental question: how can the planet's solid center appear firm yet strangely pliable?
From Science Daily • Dec. 10, 2025
Eventually, it becomes pliable enough to pick off ground balls.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025
UCLA’s defense was too pliable in allowing the Illini to shoot 50.9% on the way to ending the Bruins’ seven-game winning streak.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2025
My good fortune, the fortune that saved my life, was that he was not only a young adult but a pliable young adult, an omega animal.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
