Adjacent Words

Facile definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FAC'ILE, a. [L. facilis, from facio, to make.]
1. Properly, easy to be done or performed; easy; not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor.
Order - will render the work facile and delightful.
2. Easy to be surmounted or removed; easily conquerable.
The facile gates of hell too slightly barred.
3. Easy of access or converse; mild; courteous; not haughty, austere or distant.
I mean she should be courteous, facile, sweet.
4. Pliant; flexible; easily persuaded to good or bad; yielding; ductile to a fault.
Since Adam, and his facile consort Eve,
Lost Paradise, deceived by me.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth; "too facile a solution for so complex a problem"
2: performing adroitly and without effort; "a facile hand"
3: expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively; "able to dazzle with his facile tongue"; "silver speech" [syn: eloquent, facile, fluent, silver, silver-tongued, smooth-spoken]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle French, from Latin facilis, from facere to do — more at do Date: 15th century 1. a. (1) easily accomplished or attained <a facile victory> (2) shallow, simplistic <I am not concerned…with offering any facile solution for so complex a problem — T. S. Eliot> b. used or comprehended with ease c. readily manifested and often lacking sincerity or depth <facile tears> 2. archaic mild or pleasing in manner or disposition 3. a. ready, fluent <facile prose> b. poised, assured Synonyms: see easy • facilely adverb • facileness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. usu. derog. 1 easily achieved but of little value. 2 (of speech, writing, etc.) fluent, ready, glib. Derivatives: facilely adv. facileness n. Etymology: F facile or L facilis f. facere do

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Facile Fac"ilea. [L. facilis, prop., capable of being done or made, hence, facile, easy, fr. facere to make, do: cf. F. facile. Srr Fact, and cf. Faculty.] 1. Easy to be done or performed: not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor. Order . . . will render the work facile and delightful. --Evelyn. 2. Easy to be surmounted or removed; easily conquerable; readily mastered. The facile gates of hell too slightly barred. --Milton. 3. Easy of access or converse; mild; courteous; not haughty, austere, or distant; affable; complaisant. I meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet. --B. Jonson. 4. Easily persuaded to good or bad; yielding; ductile to a fault; pliant; flexible. Since Adam, and his facile consort Eve, Lost Paradise, deceived by me. --Milton. This is treating Burns like a child, a person of so facile a disposition as not to be trusted without a keeper on the king's highway. --Prof. Wilson. 5. Ready; quick; expert; as, he is facile in expedients; he wields a facile pen. -- Fac"ile-ly, adv. -- Fac"ile*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone's arguments or suggestions as facile, you are criticizing them because their ideas are too simple and indicate a lack of careful, intelligent thinking. The subject of racism is admittedly too complex for facile summarization. = simplistic ADJ [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Easy. 2. Mild, courteous, affable, complaisant, approachable, conversible. 3. Pliant, pliable, flexible, ductile, yielding, tractable, manageable, compliant, easily persuaded. 4. Dexterous, ready.

Moby Thesaurus

Mickey Mouse, adaptable, adroit, apt, bendable, bending, biddable, bright, casual, clear, clever, compliant, cursory, cushy, deft, dexterous, dib, docile, ductile, easy, easy as pie, educable, effortless, elastic, elegant, extensible, extensile, fabricable, fictile, flexible, flexile, flexuous, flowing, fluent, formable, formative, giving, glib, graceful, impressible, impressionable, instructable, intelligent, light, like putty, limber, lissome, lithe, lithesome, malleable, moldable, motivated, nothing to it, painless, plain, plastic, pleasing, pliable, pliant, quick, ready, receptive, responsive, ripe for instruction, royal, schoolable, sensitive, sequacious, shallow, shapable, simple, simple as ABC, smooth, soft, springy, straightforward, submissive, superficial, supple, susceptible, teachable, thirsty for knowledge, tractable, tractile, trainable, tripping, unburdensome, uncomplicated, uncritical, untroublesome, voluble, whippy, willing, willowy, yielding