flexible

adjective

1)

flexible tubing

Syn:

pliable, supple, bendable, pliant, plastic; elastic, stretchy, whippy, springy, resilient, bouncy; informal bendy

Ant:

rigid

2)

a flexible arrangement

Syn:

adaptable, adjustable, variable, versatile, open-ended, open, free

Ant:

inflexible

3)

the need to be flexible toward tenants

Syn:

accommodating, amenable, willing to compromise, cooperative, tolerant, easygoing

Ant:

intransigent

••

flexible, elastic, limber, pliable, pliant, resilient, supple

If you can bend over and touch your toes, you are flexible. But a dancer or gymnast is limber, an adjective that specifically applies to a body that has been brought into condition through training (to stay limber, she did yoga every day). Flexible applies to whatever can be bent without breaking, whether or not it returns to its original shape (a flexible plastic hose; a flexible electrical conduit); it does not necessarily refer, as limber does, to the human body. Unlike flexible, resilient implies the ability to spring back into shape after being bent or compressed, or to recover one's health or spirits quickly (so young and resilient that she was back at work in a week). Elastic is usually applied to substances or materials that are easy to stretch or expand and that quickly recover their shape or size (pants with an elastic waist), while supple is applied to whatever is easily bent, twisted, or folded without breaking or cracking (a soft, supple leather). When applied to the human body, supple suggests the ability to move effortlessly. Pliant and pliable may used to describe either people or things that are easily bent or manipulated. Pliant suggests a tendency to bend without force or pressure from the outside, while pliable suggests the use of force or submission to another's will. A pliant person is merely adaptable, but a pliable person is easy to influence and eager to please.