Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Readily bent; pliant.
- adj. Moving and bending with agility; limber.
- adj. Yielding or changing readily; compliant or adaptable. See Synonyms at flexible.
- v. To make or become supple.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Pliant; flexible; easily bent: as, supple joints; supple fingers.
- Yielding; compliant; not obstinate.
- Capable of adapting one's self to the wishes and opinions of others; bending to the humor of others; obsequious; fawning; also, characterized by such obsequiousness, as words and acts.
- Tending to make pliant or pliable; soothing.
- Synonyms Lithe, limber, lissome.
- To make supple; make pliant; render flexible: as, to supple leather.
- To make compliant, submissive, humble, or yielding.
- Specifically, to train (a saddle-horse) by making him yield with docility to the rein, bending his neck to left or right at the slightest pressure.
- To soothe.
- To become soft and pliant.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Pliant; flexible; easily bent.
- adj. Yielding compliant; not obstinate; submissive to guidance.
- adj. Bending to the humor of others; flattering; fawning; obsequious.
- v. To make soft and pliant; to render flexible.
- v. To make compliant, submissive, or obedient.
- v. To become soft and pliant.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. (used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable
- adj. (used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely
- v. make pliant and flexible
- adj. moving and bending with ease
Etymologies
- Middle English souple, from Old French, from Latin supplex, suppliant; see plāk-1 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Like the idea of the Creator, the reasons for their prevalence across the region is rooted in supple yet enduring epistemologies deriving from early Niger-Congo history.”
“If you realize you added too much flour, add some more milk (1 tbsp at a time), until the dough is again supple and easy to handle.”
“These treatments, however, are in short supple due to a significant dearth of democracy resulting from socially and politically entrenched power inequalities and hegemonic ideologies.”
“It is lighter, and fluffier than the purple (Day 3 Store Bought Lotion) bar and leaves the skin supple and soft.”
“Researchers developed a new cosmetic agent to make skin supple, state-run media boasted.”
“Cory Doctorow is building a reputation as a writer who consistently delivers unpredictable stories in supple, evocative prose.”
Boing Boing: September 15, 2002 - September 21, 2002 Archives
“These wigwams were built of branches of trees placed in a circle, which are bound at the top by a kind of creeper called supple-jack.”
“When our settlers landed, there was not a single acre clear of wood in the island, and the trees were so bound together by that kind of creeping shrub called supple jack, interwoven in all directions, as to render it very difficult to penetrate far among them.”
“The goal was to come up with a nanometal that was strong enough, hard enough and "supple" enough to resist fatigue failure and wear in advanced applications.”
“As a physicist, Polkinghorne sees a universe that is "supple" and "subtle" -- a mix of determinism and of freedom -- and this informs his imagination about the nature of God, what happens when we die, and what happens when he prays.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘supple’.
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CCle
all those wonderful Britsy words that end with a double consonant followed by 'le'
doddle, bobble, dibble, whiffle, waffle, diddle, piddle, jiggle, straggle, boggle, fiddle, skeedaddle and 122 more...
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Weird Words
Words that sound strange
flesh, moist, supple, ample, flab, tardy, fork, umber, glasses, paper, mellifluous
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vijaimanikandan's list
Vocabulary
mass murder, superhero, bubbly, narcotics, murder, supple, neolithic, howard hughes, deus ex machina, island, mystery, suspense and 29 more...
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word's that gross me out
supple, moist, succulent, word's, caulk, flesh, limpid, endocrine, sauce
lyuds jello: firm yet supple Aug 29, 2008