pliant
/ˈplʌɪənt
/adjective
1Easily bent: pliant willow stems...
- From olden times the principle of gentleness has been symbolized by a willow branch or a bamboo, which is pliant and not easily broken.
- She threw enough flour in the pot for the batter to finally seem doughy, and it began to feel soft and pliant and I could take it out of the mixing pot to knead it.
- At first glance, the powered parachute appears a hermaphroditic aircraft - half loud, thrusting engine, half soft, pliant airfoil.
2Easily influenced or directed; yielding: a more pliant prime minister...
- The regime reduced the two officially tolerated political parties to pliant ineffectuality.
- He thought about Susan's soft and pliant nakedness that one Sunday.
- Trinity was pliant and soft against him, her body molding to his.
Synonyms
compliant, biddable, docile, tractable, yielding, malleable, manageable, governable, controllable, amenable, accommodating, susceptible, suggestible, easily influenced, influenceable, persuadable, manipulable, like putty in one's hands, responsive, receptive
rare persuasible, suasible, susceptive
Derivatives
pliancy
/ noun ...- Judo, the way of gentleness and pliancy, is one such path.
- She is blessed with an exotic natural beauty and a porcelain fragility which cleverly disguises her great pliancy and strong technique.
- A little pliancy in the mind of an investigator can't hurt either.
pliantly
- She shielded it from the possibility of rain all the more pliantly after reading in its margin: ‘Free to be considered your property.’
- Throughout his examination, Tadese sat motionless, submitting so pliantly as to give the impression of not being there at all.
- The performance, pliantly conducted by a visiting conductor, also delivered an honest-to-goodness duet, a first for Morris here.
Origin
Middle English: from French, literally 'bending', present participle of plier.