Definition of Pliant

1. Adjective. Capable of being influenced or formed. "A pliant nature"

Exact synonyms: Plastic
Similar to: Impressible, Impressionable, Waxy
Derivative terms: Pliancy, Pliantness

2. Adjective. Capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out. "Made of highly tensile steel alloy"
Exact synonyms: Ductile, Malleable, Pliable, Tensile, Tractile
Similar to: Formed
Derivative terms: Ductility, Malleability, Pliability, Pliancy, Pliantness

3. Adjective. Able to adjust readily to different conditions. "An elastic clause in a contract"
Exact synonyms: Elastic, Flexible, Pliable
Similar to: Adaptable
Derivative terms: Flexibility, Flexibleness, Pliability, Pliancy, Pliantness

4. Adjective. Capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking. "A pliant young tree"
Exact synonyms: Bendable, Pliable, Waxy
Similar to: Flexible, Flexile
Derivative terms: Bend, Bend, Bendability, Pliability, Pliancy, Pliantness

Definition of Pliant

1. a. 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.

Definition of Pliant

1. Adjective. Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking; flexible; pliable; lithe; limber; plastic; as, a pliant thread; pliant wax. ¹

2. Adjective. (figuratively) Easily influenced for good or evil; tractable; as, a pliant heart. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Pliant

1. easily bent [adj] : PLIANTLY [adv]

Medical Definition of Pliant

1. 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. "A pliant hour." Pli"antly, Pli"antness. Origin: F. Pliant, p. Pr. Of plier to bend. See Ply. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Pliant

plexus venosus vesicalis
plexus vertebralis
plexus vesicalis
plexus vesicalis inferior
plexuses
pleyt
pleyts
pliabilities
pliability
pliable
pliableness
pliablenesses
pliably
pliancies
pliancy
pliant (current term)
pliantly
pliantness
pliantnesses
plica
plica aryepiglottica
plica axillaris
plica caecalis vascularis
plica chordae tympani
plica choroidea
plica duodenalis inferior
plica duodenalis superior
plica duodenojejunalis
plica duodenomesocolica
plica epigastrica

Literary usage of Pliant

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1850)
"(2) Supple ; limber ; pliant. South. It is not (6) Obsequious ; humble. North. ... (1) pliant ; supple. South. (2) Heavy, warm, applied to the weather. ..."

2. The Iliad of Homer by Homer, Andrew Lang, Walter Leaf, Ernest Myers (1915)
"... and he wrought him a massive helmet to fit his brows, goodly and graven, and set thereon a crest of gold, and he wrought him greaves of pliant tin. ..."

3. The Works of Virgil by Virgil (1891)
"... forthwith begin to wheel in the ring, and with regular steps to prance; and let him bend the pliant joints of his legs alternately, and seem to labor. ..."

4. Brief Outline of an Analysis of the Human Intellect: Intended to Rectify the by James Rush (1865)
"ARTICLE I. Of the Inflexible and of the pliant Character of the Mind. THE human mind, enveloped in ignorance, is almost as inaccessible as if it did not ..."

5. The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to by Henry Hallam (1876)
"... was formed independently .of the pope'« Her council was formed of a very few Catholics, of several pliant conformists with all changes, ..."

6. Our Wild Indians: Thirty-three Years Personal Experience Among the Red Men by Richard Irving Dodge (1884)
"... with Washington Magnates — The Squaw Men — Adventurers and Outcasts — The Asylum of Thieves and Murderers — pliant Tools of Corrupt Agents — Treachery ..."

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