flexible

flexible

English

A flexible tube

A flexible display

A flexible gymnast

Etymology

From Middle French flexible, from Latin flexibilis, from flectō (“I bend, curve”).

Morphologically flex +‎ -ible.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈflɛk.sɪ.bəl/, /ˈflɛk.sə.bəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

flexible (comparative more flexible, superlative most flexible)

1. Capable of being flexed or bent without breaking; able to be turned or twisted without breaking.

   Synonym: pliable

   Antonyms: stiff, brittle, inflexible, rigid

   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iii]:

     When the splitting wind Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks.

2. Willing or prone to give way to the influence of others; not invincibly rigid or obstinate.

   Synonyms: tractable, manageable, ductile

   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the chapter)”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, OCLC 863521290:

     Phocion the Athenian (a man of great severity, and no ways flexible to the will of the people […]

   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iv]:

     Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible.

3. Capable or being adapted or molded in some way.

   Synonyms: plastic, malleable

   a flexible language

   • 1735, John Rogers, Nineteen Sermons on various occasions

     This they foresaw was a Principle more flexible to their Purpose

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• bendsome
• bendy
• ductile
• inconstant
• manageable
• obsequious
• pliant
• pliable
• supple
• tractable
• wavering

Derived terms

• flexibleness
• flexible sigmoidoscopy
• flexibly
• make flexible

 

Related terms

• flexibility
• inflexible

Translations

easily bent without breaking

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: ճկուն (hy) (čkun) Asturian: flexible (ast) Azerbaijani: esnek Belarusian: гі́бкі (híbki), гну́ткі (hnútki) Bulgarian: гъвкав (bg) (gǎvkav) Catalan: flexible (ca) Cherokee: ᏩᏂᎨ (wanige) Chinese: Mandarin: 靈活／灵活 (zh) (línghuó) Czech: ohebný (cs) m Danish: fleksibel n, smidig Dutch: buigzaam (nl) Esperanto: fleksebla Estonian: paindlik Finnish: joustava (fi), notkea (fi), kimmoisa, taipuva (fi), taipuisa (fi) French: flexible (fr) Galician: flexible (gl), flexíbel (gl) Georgian: მოქნილი (moknili), დრეკადი (dreḳadi) German: biegsam (de), flexibel (de), elastisch (de), dehnbar (de) Greek: εύκαμπτος (el) n (éfkamptos) Ancient: εὐκαμπής (eukampḗs) Hebrew: גמיש‎ (he) m (gamísh) Hindi: लचीला m (lacīlā) Hungarian: hajlékony (hu) Icelandic: sveigjanlegur (is) Irish: aclaí, solúbtha Italian: flessibile (it), pieghevole (it) Japanese: 柔軟な (ja) (じゅうなんな, jūnan na) Khmer: អាចបត់បែនបាន (aac bɑt baen baa nɔɔ) Latin: flexilis, flexibilis Manx: so-lhoobey Maori: moruki (of a human body), pīngore Norwegian: fleksibel Occitan: flexible (oc) Polish: elastyczny (pl), gibki (pl), rozciągliwy, giętki (pl) Portuguese: flexível (pt) Romanian: flexibil (ro) Russian: ги́бкий (ru) (gíbkij) Scottish Gaelic: lùbach Spanish: flexible (es), doblegable Swedish: flexibel (sv), böjlig (sv) Tagalog: hutukin Thai: ยืดหยุ่น (th) (yʉ̂ʉt-yùn) Turkish: esneklik (tr) Ukrainian: гнучки́й (hnučkýj), гну́чий (hnúčyj) Volapük: please add this translation if you can

easy and compliant

Arabic: مَرِن‎ (marin) Armenian: զիջող (hy) (ziǰoł) Belarusian: рахма́ны (raxmány), пада́тлівы (padátlivy) Bulgarian: податлив (bg) (podatliv) Catalan: flexible (ca) Danish: fleksibel, føjelig Dutch: flexibel (nl) Esperanto: fleksebla Estonian: please add this translation if you can Finnish: joustava (fi) French: flexible (fr) Galician: flexíbel (gl) m or f Georgian: დამყოლი (damq̇oli) German: fügsam (de), flexibel (de), elastisch (de), nachgiebig (de) Greek: ευέλικτος (el) (evéliktos) Hungarian: alkalmazkodó (hu) Icelandic: sveigjanlegur (is) Irish: aclaí, solúbtha Italian: flessibile (it) Khmer: អាចបត់បែនបាន (aac bɑt baen baa nɔɔ) Latin: flexibilis Manx: so-lhoobey Maori: ngāwari Oriya: ନମନୀୟ (or) (nômôniyô) Portuguese: flexível (pt) Russian: покла́дистый (ru) (pokládistyj), пода́тливый (ru) (podátlivyj) Spanish: flexible (es) Turkish: elastik (tr) Ukrainian: ла́гідний (láhidnyj), покла́дливий (pokládlyvyj), посту́пливий (postúplyvyj)

capable or being adapted or molded

Armenian: ճկուն (hy) (čkun) Bulgarian: приспособяващ се (prisposobjavašt se) Catalan: flexible (ca) Dutch: flexibel (nl) Finnish: joustava (fi) French: flexible (fr), maléable Galician: flexíbel (gl) German: flexibel (de), dehnbar (de), weich (de) Hungarian: rugalmas (hu) Icelandic: sveigjanlegur (is) Italian: flessibile (it) Maori: kōngohe Portuguese: flexível (pt) Russian: ги́бкий (ru) (gíbkij) Spanish: flexible (es) Thai: ยืดหยุ่น (th) (yʉ̂ʉt-yùn)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: (please verify) souple (fr) Swedish: (please verify) flexibel (sv)

See also

• foldable

Noun

flexible (plural flexibles)

1. (chiefly engineering and manufacturing) Something that is flexible.
   • 2009 August 19, Terry McCrann, “Win-win deal for the times”, in Herald Sun‎:

     Alcan is mostly flexibles -- and so it boosts Amcor's flexible packaging business to a globally significant $7 billion one.

References

• flexible in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• flexible on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• flexibility on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Asturian

Etymology

From Latin flexibilis.

Adjective

flexible (epicene, plural flexibles)

1. flexible

   Antonym: inflexible

Related terms

• flexibilidá

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /fləkˈsi.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /flekˈsi.ble/

Adjective

flexible (masculine and feminine plural flexibles)

1. flexible

   Antonym: inflexible

Derived terms

• disc flexible
• flexibilitzar

Related terms

• flexibilitat

Further reading

• “flexible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “flexible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “flexible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “flexible” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɛk.sibl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophone: flexibles
• Hyphenation: flex‧sible

Adjective

flexible (plural flexibles)

1. flexible

Derived terms

• flexiblement
• inflexible

Related terms

• flexibilité

Further reading

• “flexible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Galician

Alternative forms

• flexíbel

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis.

Adjective

flexible m or f (plural flexibles)

1. flexible

Antonyms

• inflexible, inflexíbel

Related terms

• flexibilidade

Further reading

• “flexible” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

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German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

flexible

1. inflection of flexibel:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis, from flectō (“to bend, curve”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fleɡˈsible/ [fleɣ̞ˈsi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: fle‧xi‧ble

Adjective

flexible (plural flexibles)

1. flexible (clarification of this definition is needed)

   Antonym: inflexible

Derived terms

• disco flexible
• flexibilidad
• flexibilizar
• flexibilización
• flexiblemente

Related terms

• flexión
• flexionar

Further reading

• “flexible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014