Adjacent Words

Pliant definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PLI'ANT, a. That may be easily bent; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking; flexible; flexile; lithe; limber; as a pliant thread.
1. That may be easily formed or molded to a different shape; as pliant wax.
2. Easily yielding to moral influence; easy to be persuaded; ductile.
The will was then more ductile and pliant to right reason.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: capable of being influenced or formed; "the plastic minds of children"; "a pliant nature" [syn: plastic, pliant]
2: capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; "ductile copper"; "malleable metals such as gold"; "they soaked the leather to made it pliable"; "pliant molten glass"; "made of highly tensile steel alloy" [syn: ductile, malleable, pliable, pliant, tensile, tractile]
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: capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking; "a flexible wire"; "a pliant young tree" [syn: bendable, pliable, pliant, waxy]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 14th century 1. pliable 1a 2. easily influenced ; yielding 3. suitable for varied uses Synonyms: see plastic • pliantly adverb • pliantness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. = PLIABLE 1. Derivatives: pliancy n. pliantly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF (as PLIABLE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pliant Pli"ant, a. [F. pliant, p. pr. of plier to bend. See Ply, v.] 1. Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking; flexible; pliable; lithe; limber; plastic; as, a pliant thread; pliant wax. Also used figuratively: Easily influenced for good or evil; tractable; as, a pliant heart. The will was then ductile and pliant to right reason. --South. 2. Favorable to pliancy. [R.] ``A pliant hour.'' --Shak. -- Pli"ant*ly, adv. -- Pli"ant*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A pliant person can be easily influenced and controlled by other people. She's proud and stubborn, you know, under that pliant exterior. = compliant, pliable ADJ 2. If something is pliant, you can bend it easily without breaking it. ...pliant young willows. = pliable, supple ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. See pliable.

Moby Thesaurus

accessible, acquiescent, adaptable, adaptive, adjustable, agreeable, alacritous, amenable, ardent, bendable, bending, biddable, complaisant, compliant, conformable, consenting, content, convenient, cooperative, disposed, docile, ductile, eager, elastic, enthusiastic, extensible, extensile, fabricable, facile, fain, favorable, favorably disposed, favorably inclined, feasible, fictile, flexible, flexile, flexuous, foolproof, formable, formative, forward, game, giving, handy, impressible, impressionable, in the mind, in the mood, inclined, influenceable, like putty, limber, lissome, lithe, lithesome, malleable, manageable, maneuverable, minded, moldable, movable, obedient, open, open-minded, other-directed, persuadable, persuasible, pervious, plastic, pliable, practical, predisposed, prompt, prone, quick, ready, ready and willing, receptive, responsive, sensitive, sequacious, shapable, spongy, springy, suasible, submissive, suggestible, supple, susceptible, swayable, tractable, tractile, unaustere, undemanding, unexacting, unharsh, unsevere, unstrict, untroublesome, weak, well-disposed, well-inclined, whippy, wieldable, wieldy, willed, willing, willinghearted, willowy, yielding, zealous