ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Pliant', Synonyms of 'Pliant' & More on 'Pliant'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

pliant
    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]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

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.
      [1913 Webster]

            The will was then ductile and pliant to right
            reason.                               --South.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Favorable to pliancy. [R.] "A pliant hour." --Shak. --
      Pli"ant*ly, adv. -- Pli"ant*ness, n.
      [1913 Webster]

Thesaurus Results for pliant:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

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

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