pliable
3
5.4
- adjective
- /ˈplaɪəbl/
:
susceptible
- Anne appears to have returned from Hever a better, more pliable, more compliant person.
- more pliable
If he says yes, he would be judged to be the most pliable and serviceable of impostors.
- If he says yes, he would be judged to be the most pliable and serviceable of impostors.
- And what he's talking about is that a man who is too pliable is kind of the same as a woman who gives up sex too easily.
- OK, one of the three has to be pliable, but it sounds like Therese would say to that I have changed my standards, right?
Examples
-
The French calculated that this youth would be a pliable monarch.
Academic text (2002) -
We need someone more pliable.
-
The reason is that kids are very pliable.
Blog text (3) -
"All the same," I said, "wave a bundle of cash at somebody, and he may turn out to be pliable."
Fiction book (1999) -
Puppies that aren't trained before they get to a particular age may not be pliable to training.
Blog text (28) -
If he says yes, he would be judged to be the most pliable and serviceable of impostors.
-
And because they're so pliable, I'm concerned that they're not being honest with me.
-
Clearly, in an age prone to denigrate female sexuality, they found women more pliable when it came to the dictates of medical authority.
Academic text (1994) -
The teacher appreciated how pliable the new student was, always willing to adapt to group ideas.
-
In negotiations, a pliable approach can help reach a beneficial agreement for both parties.
Synonyms
79
5.5
Easily affected or harmed by something
31
5.4
A person who is easily influenced by other people's ideas, especially when young
14
5.9
Willing to accept advice or follow rules
12
6.0
Easily influenced by others and likely to change opinions
7
7.0
Easily influenced by what other people say
3
4.6
Open to change your mind when others give reasons
1
6.5
Willing to change ideas or plans to fit a situation
1
8.1
Easily influenced by other people
1
7.9
Willing to do what others tell them and easy to control
Easily influenced by others
Easy for someone to change or control
Open to changing your mind when given good reasons
Being easily persuaded by other people or by what they say
Easily persuaded to change their mind
Antonyms
How Suggestible
65
4.2
79
5.5
7
7.0
3
5.4
20
4.3
73
2.7
30
5.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
pliable = ply (semi-transparent) = ply + able
While the structure is clear, the meaning of being easily influenced is a metaphorical extension.
Etymology
Pliable comes from the Latin root plicare, which means 'to fold', and is related to common words such as ply and comply. Because something that folds easily can 'give way' under pressure, pliable also came to mean 'easily influenced' or ready to be guided by others.