Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Capable of being bent or flexed; pliable.
- adj. Capable of being bent repeatedly without injury or damage.
- adj. Susceptible to influence or persuasion; tractable.
- adj. Responsive to change; adaptable: a flexible schedule.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Capable of being bent or changed in figure without breaking; specifically, not stiff; pliant; easily bent: as, a flexible rod; a flexible plant.
- Capable of yielding to entreaties, arguments, or other moral force; that may be persuaded to compliance; not invincibly rigid or obstinate; not inexorable; ductile; manageable; tractable.
- That may be adapted or accommodated; capable of receiving different forms, or of being applied to a variety of uses; plastic: as, a flexible language; a flexible text.
- In music, able to execute or perform with rapidity: particularly used of the voice.
- Synonyms Pliable, supple, limber, lithe, facile, adaptable.
Wiktionary
- adj. Capable of being flexed or bent without breaking; able to be turned, bowed, or twisted, without breaking; pliable; not stiff or brittle.
- adj. Willing or ready to yield to the influence of others; not invincibly rigid or obstinate; tractable; manageable; ductile; easy and compliant; wavering.
- adj. Capable or being adapted or molded; plastic,; as, a flexible language.
- n. Something that is flexible
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Capable of being flexed or bent; admitting of being turned, bowed, or twisted, without breaking; pliable; yielding to pressure; not stiff or brittle.
- adj. Willing or ready to yield to the influence of others; not invincibly rigid or obstinate; tractable; manageable; ductile; easy and compliant; wavering.
- adj. Capable or being adapted or molded; plastic,.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. capable of being changed
- adj. able to adjust readily to different conditions
- adj. able to flex; able to bend easily
- adj. bending and snapping back readily without breaking
- adj. making or willing to make concessions
Etymologies
- From Latin flexibilis, from flectō ("I bend, curve"). Compare French flexible. (Wiktionary)
- From Latin flexibilis, from flexus, past participle of flectere, to bend. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Once, liberals like Justice William Brennan relied on what he called a flexible "living Constitution.”
“Doesn't mean they're going to stop producing those vehicles, though, because Ford is increasingly turning to what it calls flexible manufacturing.”
“They are worried that they will not be consulted, and that Europe, NATO in particular, may be relegated to the sidelines, as the U.S. engages in what it calls flexible coalitions to prosecute its war against terrorists, as it did in Afghanistan.”
“Q Is he going to have one of those, what you call a flexible sigmoidoscopy?”
“Among these is Peter Senge who wrote The Fifth Discipline, in which he calls the flexible, healthy organizational system a “learning organization”—not in the sense that it gathers information, but in that it is constantly adapting its structure, management style, strategy, and so on.”
“While volatile items -- which he calls flexible-price goods -- have fed into the core rate of inflation in the past, most notably during the commodity-price shocks of the 1970s, they haven't done so since.”
“However, based on public comments by Mr. Carney in the past year, the new five-year mandate is likely to include a forceful assertion of what he calls "flexible inflation targeting," or his right to respond to economic shocks or dangerous buildups of credit by taking longer than usual to bring inflation to the central bank's 2-per-cent target.”
“The word 'flexible' I found very interesting because generally the government has been of a fairly one-track mind," said BMO deputy chief economist Doug Porter.”
“It has adopted what it calls a flexible approach, favoring military tribunals in some cases and civilian trials in others.”
“The Obama administration has adopted what it calls a flexible approach to terrorism suspects, favoring military commissions in some cases and civilian trials in others.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘flexible’.
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EU Buzz - ALL words and expressions
A combined list of
1. EU Buzz - single words
2. EU Buzz - collocations
3. EU Buzz - the 100 most active
collocation constituentsabsorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 2650 more...
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Dominant/Submissive
single-minded, self-seeking, vain, territorial, stubborn, self-possessed, unwary, self-important, rigid, relentless, resolute, purposeful and 189 more...
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EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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EU Buzz - single words (1+2+3)
1. Strictly EU terms with special European meaning used only in the EU
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2. Keywords central to the understanding of the EU (people working for the EU are usually able to give thematic...acceleration, action, additionality, administrator, agenda, agricultural, agri-environmental, agriflation, agri-food, applicant, approach, assent and 1325 more...
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words to describe peanut butter
crunchy, creamy, sticky, low-fat, sugar-free, spreadable, extra-crunchy, flexible, gooey, peanuty, smooth, natural and 4 more...
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Character Traits
This is a list of adjectives used by writers to help develop characters.
guileful, obsessed, brilliant, bright, naive, streetwise, streetsmart, ruthless, cruel, foolish, obsessive, introspective and 19 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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easy
creasy, over easy, free-and-easy, greasy, speakeasy, take it easy, weasy, lope, leisurely, wing chair, uncomplicated, luminous and 38 more...
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Of -ibles, not -ables
Tricksy buggers! I've not included those where neither is favorable.
accessible, admissible, alible, apprehensible, audible, coercible, cognoscible, collapsible, collectible, combustible, comestible, compactible and 103 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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-bles
fine find endings
able, amble, bable, cable, cible, coble, dable, fable, gable, gible, tible, table and 241 more...
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savage215's Words
pipe, yankee, knickerbocker, tennis, plasma, magma, volcano, car, truck, television, tv, word and 445 more...
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SAT
abandon,extreme e..., abash,to humiliate, abate,to lessen, abbreviate,to sho..., abridge, abdicate,to forma..., aberration,depart..., abnormality, abet,to encourage, abhor,to hate, abide,to follow o..., abject,utterly ho... and 2228 more...
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Words to remember
adventive, affectation, ambiguous, anachronism, anesis, antithetic, apostasy, attenuate, authenticity, autodidact, -fic, bandolier and 146 more...
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SAT
abandon,extreme e..., dispensing of all..., abash,to humiliate, abate,to lessen, abbreviate,to sho..., abridge, abdicate,to forma..., aberration,depart..., abnormality, abet,to encourage, abhor,to hate, abide,to follow o... and 2229 more...
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