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