compliant
/kəmˈplʌɪənt
/adjective
1Disposed to agree with others or obey rules, especially to an excessive degree; acquiescent: a compliant labour force...
- As soon as the band stops being compliant to what the record label needs them to churn out or start to under-perform they are sacked.
- Structured finance is extraordinarily flexible and, by its very nature, compliant to the wants and needs of the marketplace.
- As a bonus, the ingrained discipline and level of fitness of a dancer makes them generally compliant to hold poses for longer periods than the average client or model, without discomfort or complaint.
Synonyms
acquiescent, amenable, biddable, tractable, complaisant, accommodating, cooperative, adaptable;
obedient, docile, manageable, malleable, pliable, pliant, flexible, submissive, dutiful, tame, meek, yielding, easily handled, like putty in one's hands, controllable, unresisting, unassertive, passive, governable, persuadable, manipulable
informal, dated milky
rare persuasible
2 (often compliant with) Meeting or in accordance with rules or standards: food which is compliant with safety regulations...
- We accept that the consequence of becoming compliant with this standard is that more time must be spent on the way in which we record the outcome of our dealing with the public.
- A statement released by the council yesterday explained that the water is now fully compliant with bathing water standards.
- All public water supplies in Laois were also fully compliant with the standards for ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, odour, pH and turbidity.
3 Physics & Medicine Having the property of compliance: the conversion of the gel to a much less compliant, rigid glass...
- Tumors are more rigid than normal tissues, and palpation of compliant tissues to look for a rigid tissue mass has been used as a method of cancer detection for some time.
- We found that Crs was highly correlated with birth weight and length, with larger babies having more compliant respiratory systems.
- After single-lung transplantation for emphysema, ventilation favors the compliant, native lung.
Derivatives
compliantly
- Artists and intellectuals are called upon not to offer critique or alternative visions but to sidle in compliantly amongst the lowest rungs of this same pantheon and so to boost its size and glory.
- ‘He planted a great collection of trees,’ he says finally, as he compliantly offers his inimitable profile to the photographer.
- I smiled unsurely back at him, and then compliantly replied to his comment about the disgustingness of our cafeteria's food, and soon enough a conversation had started.