pliant
Yields under pressure
Pliant describes something that bends easily without breaking—a pliant branch, pliant leather.
Applied to people, it suggests yielding or adaptable, sometimes positively a pliant negotiator willing to compromise, sometimes negatively a pliant employee who never pushed back.
The word shares territory with flexible and supple but carries a slightly more passive connotation.
Easily controlled or taught
- submissiveReadily yielding to control
- tractableEasily managed or controlled
- biddableReadily obeying commands
- amenableWilling to comply
acquiescent · deferential · obedient · dutiful · meek · passive · unresisting · manageable
Able to bend freely
- bendableAble to curve
- suppleFlexing without damage
- limberBending without resistance
- elasticAble to stretch, rebounds
ductile · malleable · springy · resilient · stretchable · rubbery · whippy · tensile
Capable in varied contexts
- adjustableAble to be changed
- accommodatingWilling to help others
- resilientAble to recover quickly
- modifiableAble to be changed
flexible · mutable · changeable · dynamic · resourceful · responsive · receptive · open-minded
docile
Easily controlled or taught
- submissiveReadily yielding to control
- tractableEasily managed or controlled
- biddableReadily obeying commands
amenable · acquiescent · deferential · obedient · dutiful · meek · passive · unresisting · manageable · cooperative
flexible
Able to bend freely
elastic · ductile · malleable · springy · resilient · stretchable · rubbery · whippy · tensile · lissome
versatile
Capable in varied contexts
- adjustableAble to be changed
- accommodatingWilling to help others
- resilientAble to recover quickly
modifiable · flexible · mutable · changeable · dynamic · resourceful · responsive · receptive · open-minded · persuadable
- flexibilitystretch, elastic, bendy, stretchy, bendable
- submissivesubmissive, subservient, obedient, servile, docile
- texturessmoothness, smooth, soft, rough, roughness
- flexible thingselastic, bendy, stretchy, springy, malleable
- agilityagile, nimble, quick, lithe, spry
- certaintycertain, sure, uncertain, unsure, definite
pliantstubborn
Refusing to change course
obstinate · obdurate · headstrong · inflexible · unyielding
pliable, compliance, compliant, pliancy, noncompliance, compliancy, pliantness, pliantly, compliances