ductility

American  

[duhk-til-i-tee] / dʌkˈtɪl ɪ ti /

noun

1. the capacity to undergo a change of physical form without breaking; malleability or flexibility.

   High ductility and very low hardness made gold easy to work using primitive techniques.

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Other Word Forms

• nonductility noun

Etymology

Origin of ductility

ductil(e) ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

Compare meaning

How does ductility compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• ductility vs. malleability

Explanation

Ductility is the quality of being pliable and flexible, like a piece of metal that can be bent into a thin wire. Metals like silver, lead, and copper have ductility — a metalsmith can bend, hammer, and even stretch these materials without breaking or shattering them. Things like Silly Putty and Play-Doh also have ductility, but your ceramic mug and plastic sunglasses don't. Ductility and the adjective ductile are rooted in the Latin ductilis, "able to be led or drawn."

Example Sentences

The material provides the strength, corrosion resistance and ductility required for demanding applications such as vehicle underbodies, frame elements and other key structural parts.

From Science Daily • Mar. 10, 2026

Modern buildings are designed with a similar idea: “Buildings are designed with ductility to absorb that energy from the earthquake to keep people safe, so that they can safely exit the building.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2023

Toughness comes from a blend of high strength and ductility, and it varies depending on the details of a structure, even if the material itself doesn't change.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 11, 2019

Some of the properties of metals in general, such as their malleability and ductility, are largely due to having identical atoms arranged in a regular pattern.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

He found it possessed of the ductility and specific gravity of gold; and full of admiration, he exclaimed that he had never worked before upon gold so perfectly pure.

From The Seven Follies of Science [2nd ed.] A popular account of the most famous scientific impossibilities and the attempts which have been made to solve them. by Phin, John