facile

[ fas-il or, especially British, -ahyl ]
See synonyms for: facilefacilelyfacileness on Thesaurus.com

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.

  1. easy or unconstrained, as manners or persons.

  2. affable, agreeable, or complaisant; easily influenced: a facile temperament; facile people.

Origin of facile

1
1475–85; <Latin facilis that can be done, easy, equivalent to fac(ere) to do, make + -ilis-ile

Other words for facile

Other words from facile

  • fac·ile·ly, adverb
  • fac·ile·ness, noun
  • o·ver·fac·ile, adjective
  • o·ver·fac·ile·ly, adverb
  • un·fac·ile, adjective
  • un·fac·ile·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with facile

Words Nearby facile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use facile in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for facile

facile

/ (ˈfæsaɪl) /


adjective
  1. easy to perform or achieve

  2. working or moving easily or smoothly

  1. without depth; superficial: a facile solution

  2. archaic relaxed in manner; easygoing

Origin of facile

1
C15: from Latin facilis easy, from facere to do

Derived forms of facile

  • facilely, adverb
  • facileness, noun

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