Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

pliable

American  
[plahy-uh-buhl] / ˈplaɪ ə bəl /

adjective

  1. easily bent; flexible; supple.

    pliable leather.

  2. easily influenced or persuaded; yielding.

    the pliable mind of youth.

  3. adjusting readily to change; adaptable.

pliable British  
/ ˈplaɪəbəl /

adjective

  1. easily moulded, bent, influenced, or altered

"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

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” ( ply 2 ) + -able -able

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.