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pliant

   Also found in: Legal, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
pli·ant  (plnt)
adj.
1. Easily bent or flexed; pliable. See Synonyms at malleable.
2. Easily altered or modified to fit conditions; adaptable.
3. Yielding readily to influence or domination; compliant.

[Middle English, from Old French, present participle of plier, to fold, bend, from Latin plicre; see plek- in Indo-European roots.]

plian·cy, pliant·ness n.
pliant·ly adv.

pliant [ˈplaɪənt]
adj
1. easily bent; supple a pliant young tree
2. easily modified; adaptable; flexible a pliant system
3. yielding readily to influence; compliant
[from Old French, from plier to fold, bend; see ply2]
pliancy , pliantness n
pliantly  adv
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.pliant - capable of being influenced or formed; "the plastic minds of children"; "a pliant nature"
impressible, impressionable, waxy - easily impressed or influenced; "an impressionable youngster"; "an impressionable age"; "a waxy mind"
2.pliantpliant - 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"
formed - having or given a form or shape
3.pliant - able to adjust readily to different conditions; "an adaptable person"; "a flexible personality"; "an elastic clause in a contract"
adaptable - capable of adapting (of becoming or being made suitable) to a particular situation or use; "to succeed one must be adaptable"; "the frame was adaptable to cloth bolts of different widths"
4.pliant - capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking; "a flexible wire"; "a pliant young tree"
flexile, flexible - able to flex; able to bend easily; "slim flexible birches"

pliant
adjective
1. impressionable, susceptible, manageable, adaptable, compliant, yielding, pliable, easily led, tractable, biddable, persuadable, influenceable She's proud and stubborn under that pliant exterior.
2. flexible, plastic, supple, lithe, pliable, tensile, bendy, ductile, bendable pliant young willows
Translations
pliant [ˈplaɪənt] ADJ (fig) → dócil, flexible
pliant [ˈplaɪənt] adj
(= easily influenced) [person] → docile
(= easily bent) [stem, branches] → flexible


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
But as in carrying them into effect they become revealed and known, they are at once obstructed by those men whom he has around him, and he, being pliant, is diverted from them.
So we see, in languages, the tongue is more pliant to all expressions and sounds, the joints are more supple, to all feats of activity and motions, in youth than afterwards.
The connections of the several sections of the raft are slack and pliant, so that the raft may be readily bent into any sort of curve required by the shape of the river.
 
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