PLIANCY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pliancy mean? 

• PLIANCY (noun)
  The noun PLIANCY has 2 senses:

1. the property of being pliant and flexible

2. adaptability of mind or character

  Familiarity information: PLIANCY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLIANCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The property of being pliant and flexible

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

pliancy; pliantness; suppleness

Hypernyms ("pliancy" is a kind of...):

bendability; pliability (the property of being easily bent without breaking)

Derivation:

pliant (capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking)

pliant (capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Adaptability of mind or character

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

pliability; pliancy; pliantness; suppleness

Context example:

he increased the leanness and suppleness of the organization

Hypernyms ("pliancy" is a kind of...):

adaptability (the ability to change (or be changed) to fit changed circumstances)

Derivation:

pliant (able to adjust readily to different conditions)

pliant (capable of being influenced or formed)

 Context examples 

Jane, you please me, and you master me—you seem to submit, and I like the sense of pliancy you impart; and while I am twining the soft, silken skein round my finger, it sends a thrill up my arm to my heart.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced; their behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgement too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)