flexibility

From French flexibilité, from Late Latin flexibilitās, from Latin flectō (“I bend, curve”). Equivalent to flexible +‎ -ity = flex +‎ -ibility.

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• Rhymes: -ɪlɪti

flexibility (countable and uncountable, plural flexibilities)

1. The quality of being flexible, whether physically or metaphorically.

   Synonyms: pliability, suppleness, versatility

   • 2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “A winter of discontent caused by threat of union action”, in Rail, page 63:

     Whether redundancies come and whether they result in industrial action remains to be seen, but it's clear that the RMT is not prepared to show any flexibility towards rail companies.

2. The quality of having options.

   I had some flexibility in terms of whether to stay in a hotel or in a bed-and-breakfast.

• flex