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Glite Dictionary
🩰 A ballet bend 🩰 To bend knees
to plié

to plié

8.2
To bend the knees while keeping the back straight, as in ballet
  • verb
  • /pliˈeɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : plié
  • Does it feel jammed in the front every time you plié?

Examples

  • Spread the toes, plié, rolling up.

    Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance (2020)

  • In ballet class, we practiced the plié to improve our flexibility.

  • Before jumping, dancers always do a deep plié to prepare their legs.

  • She demonstrated a perfect plié, bending her knees while keeping her back straight.

How Bent

to bend
268 1.0
to plié
  • Specialized
8.2
to stand
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

plié infinitive
pliant present participle
pliés third person singular
pliéed past
pliéed past participle

Etymology

Plié comes from the French verb plier 'to bend' and the Latin root plicare 'to fold'. So to plié is to bend the knees like a small 'fold' in the body, which is why dancers use this move to lower and control their balance.