Flexible FLEX'IBLE, a. [L. flexibilis, from flecto, flexi, to bend, plico.]
1. That may be bent; capable of being turned or forced from a straight line or form without breaking; pliant; yielding to pressure; not stiff; as a flexible rod; a flexible plant.
2. Capable of yielding to intreaties, arguments or other moral force; that may be persuaded to compliance; not invincibly rigid; or obstinate; not inexorable.
Phocion was a man of great severity, and no ways flexible to the will of the people.
It often denotes, easy or too easy to yield or comply; wavering; inconstant; not firm.
3. Ductile; manageable; tractable; as the tender and flexible minds of youth. Flexible years or time of life, the time when the mind is tractable.
4. That may be turned or accommodated.
This was a principle more flexible to their purpose.

flexible adj 1: capable of being changed; "flexible schedules" [ant: inflexible] 2: able to flex; able to bend easily; "slim flexible birches" [syn: flexible, flexile] [ant: inflexible] 3: able to adjust readily to different conditions; "an adaptable person"; "a flexible personality"; "an elastic clause in a contract" [syn: elastic, flexible, pliable, pliant] 4: bending and snapping back readily without breaking [syn: flexible, whippy] 5: making or willing to make concessions; "loneliness tore through him...whenever he thought of...even the compromising Louis du Tillet" [syn: compromising, conciliatory, flexible] [ant: inflexible, sturdy, uncompromising]

flexible c.1412, from L. flexibilis "that may be bent, pliant," from flexus, pp. of flectere "to bend," of uncertain origin. Flex is a back-formation, first recorded 1521.

flexible adjective Date: 15th century 1. capable of being flexed ; pliant 2. yielding to influence ; tractable 3. characterized by a ready capability to adapt to new, different, or changing requirements <a flexible foreign policy> <a flexible schedule> Synonyms: see elastic • flexibility noun • flexibly adverb

flexible
adj.
1 able to bend without breaking; pliable; pliant.
2 easily led; manageable; docile.
3 adaptable; versatile; variable (works flexible hours).
Derivatives:
flexibility n. flexibly adv.
Etymology: ME f. OF flexible or L flexibilis (as FLEX(1))

flexible Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A flexible object or material can be bent easily without breaking. ...brushes with long, flexible bristles. = pliable ADJ • flexibility The flexibility of the lens decreases with age. N-UNCOUNT 2. Something or someone that is flexible is able to change easily and adapt to different conditions and circumstances as they occur. Look for software that's flexible enough for a range of abilities. ...flexible working hours. = adaptable ADJ [approval] • flexibility The flexibility of distance learning would be particularly suited to busy managers. N-UNCOUNT

flexible ˈfleksəbl adj. 1 able to bend without breaking; pliable; pliant. 2 easily led; manageable; docile. 3 adaptable; versatile; variable (works flexible hours). øøflexibility n. flexibly adv. [ME f. OF flexible or L flexibilis (as FLEX(1))]

Flexible \Flex"i*ble\, a. [L. flexibilis: cf. F. flexible.] 1. Capable of being flexed or bent; admitting of being turned, bowed, or twisted, without breaking; pliable; yielding to pressure; not stiff or brittle. When the splitting wind Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks. --Shak. 2. Willing or ready to yield to the influence of others; not invincibly rigid or obstinate; tractable; manageable; ductile; easy and compliant; wavering. Phocion was a man of great severity, and no ways flexible to the will of the people. --Bacon. Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible. --Shak. 3. Capable or being adapted or molded; plastic,; as, a flexible language. This was a principle more flexible to their purpose. --Rogers. Syn: Pliant; pliable; supple; tractable; manageable; ductile; obsequious; inconstant; wavering. -- Flex"i*ble*ness, n. -- Flex"i*bly, adv.

flexible a. 1. Pliable, pliant, limber, lithe, supple, easily bent, flexile. 2. Tractable, pliant, pliable, yielding, complaisant, compliant, affable, gentle, ductile, docile.

flexible ˈfleksəbl adj. 1 pliable, pliant, elastic, resilient, supple, bendable, limber, lithe, stretchy, stretchable, springy, extensible or extensile, ductile, flexile, tensile, yielding, willowy: The foil is a thin, flexible duelling sword. 2 modifiable, adaptable, conformable, compliant, malleable, obedient, tractable, manageable, cooperative, amenable, persuadable or persuasible: English seems to be an infinitely flexible language. Nicole is flexible in her attitude towards politics. 3 easy, facile, submissive, complaisant, docile: Discipline at the school might be a little too flexible.

129 Moby Thesaurus words for "flexible": able to adapt, acquiescent, adaptable, adaptive, adjustable, all-around, alterable, alterative, ambidextrous, amenable, amphibious, bendable, bending, biddable, bouncy, buoyant, changeable, checkered, complaisant, compliant, conformable, convenient, cooperative, creased, crimped, docile, dog-eared, doubled, ductile, easy, elastic, ever-changing, extensible, extensile, fabricable, facile, feasible, fictile, flexile, flexuous, flounced, fluid, fluted, foldable, folded, folding, foolproof, formable, formative, gathered, generally capable, giving, handy, impermanent, impressible, impressionable, kaleidoscopic, like putty, limber, lissome, lithe, lithesome, lively, malleable, manageable, maneuverable, many-sided, metamorphic, mobile, modifiable, moldable, movable, mutable, nonuniform, obedient, other-directed, permutable, persuadable, persuasible, plaited, plastic, pleated, pliable, pliant, plicate, plicated, plicatile, practical, protean, proteiform, quilled, receptive, resilient, resourceful, responsive, rubbery, ruffled, sensitive, sequacious, shapable, springy, stretch, stretchable, stretchy, submissive, supple, susceptible, tensile, tractable, tractile, transient, transitory, tucked, twilled, two-handed, unaustere, undemanding, unexacting, unharsh, unsevere, unstrict, untroublesome, variable, versatile, whippy, wieldable, wieldy, willowy, yielding

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