flexible

flexible

modif.

1. Pliant

   limber, lithe, supple, willowy, plastic, elastic, bending, springy, malleable, ductile, pliable, soft, extensile, extensible, spongy, tractable, moldable, yielding, tractile, flexile, formable, bendable, impressionable, like putty, like wax, adaptable, adjustable, modifiable, stretchable, stretchy, resilient, rubbery, loose-limbed, double-jointed.

   Antonyms stiff*, hard*, rigid. *

2. Tractable

   compliant, manageable, amenable; see docile.

flexible refers to anything that can be bent without breaking, whether or not it returns to its original form a flexible wire; elastic implies ability to return without permanent injury to the original size or shape after being stretched, expanded, etc. an elastic garter; resilient implies ability to spring back into shape after being deformed, esp. by compression resilient skin, and in figurative use suggests an ease in returning to good health or spirits a resilient attitude towards life; supple is applied to that which is easily bent, twisted, or folded without breaking, cracking, etc. kidskin is supple