pliant

English

Etymology

From Middle English pliaunt, from Old French ploiant, present participle of ploiier (“to fold”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈplaɪənt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪənt

Adjective

pliant (comparative more pliant, superlative most pliant)

1. Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking.

   Synonyms: flexible, pliable, lithe, limber, plastic

   a pliant thread

   pliant wax

   • 1917 April, “The Warblers of North America”, in The National Geographic Magazine:

     Whether in its northern or southern home, the black-throated blue warbler builds its nest of bark, roots, and other pliant material, loose and rather bulky, in a variety of saplings, bushes, and weeds, but always a few inches or a few feet from the ground.

2. (figuratively) Easily influenced; tractable.
   • 1594 (first publication), Christopher Marlow[e], The Trovblesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edvvard the Second, King of England: , London: for Henry Bell, , published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     I must haue wanton Poets, pleasant wits,
     Musitians, that with touching of a string
     May draw the pliant king which way I please:

   • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, , →OCLC, folio 11, recto:

     [A]nd it is without all controuerſie, that learning doth make the minds of men gentle, generous, maniable, and pliant to gouernment; whereas Ignorance makes them churlish[,] thwart, and mutinous; […]

   • 1839, William Gilmore Simms, “The Brooklet”, in Southern Passages and Pictures‎, New York: George Adlard, page 2:

     Yet there was pleasant sadness that became
     Meetly the gentle heart and pliant sense,
     In that same idlesse—gazing on that brook

   • 1988, A. J. Langguth, Patriots:

     [The king] had a pliant prime minister and a general who was telling him what he wanted to hear.

   • 2023 November 4, Madhumita Murgia, Anna Gross, Cristina Criddle, “Summit exposes tensions over AI development despite emollient Chinese tone”, in FT Weekend, page 12:

     The person said one of the reasons the Chinese had been so pliant in development of a joint position on AI governance was that “playing nice” and acting as a “responsible partner” could help foster conversations about relaxation of US trade barriers later down the line.

Derived terms

• pliantness

Related terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• -platin, Taplin, plaint, platin

French

Participle

pliant

1. present participle of plier

Adjective

pliant (feminine pliante, masculine plural pliants, feminine plural pliantes)

1. pliant

   Sa mère a acheté un vélo pliant. ― His mother bought a folding bicycle.

Derived terms

• chaise pliante
• lit pliant

Further reading

• “pliant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• pilant, plaint

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French pliant.

Adjective

pliant m or n (feminine singular pliantă, masculine plural plianți, feminine and neuter plural pliante)

1. folding

Declension