flexible

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

Morphologically flex +‎ -ible.

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

• Audio (US)

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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, [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:

     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, [Act I, scene iv]:

     Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible.

3. Capable of adapting or changing to suit new or modified conditions or situations.

   You can't always get what you want: you need to learn to be flexible.

4. 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

• flexibility
• inflexible

• foldable

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, archived from the original on 22 August 2009:

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

• “flexible”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• flexible on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• flexibility on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

From Latin flexibilis.

flexible (epicene, plural flexibles)

1. flexible

   Synonym: flesible

   Antonym: inflexible

• flexibilidá

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [fləkˈsib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [flekˈsi.ble]

flexible m or f (masculine and feminine plural flexibles)

1. flexible

   Antonym: inflexible

• disc flexible
• flexibilitzar

• flexibilitat

• “flexible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “flexible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “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.

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis.

• IPA^(key): /flɛk.sibl/

• Audio

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• Homophone: flexibles
• Hyphenation: flexible

flexible (plural flexibles)

1. flexible

• flexiblement
• inflexible

• flexibilité

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

• flexíbel

Learned borrowing from Latin flexibilis.

flexible m or f (plural flexibles)

1. flexible

   Antonyms: inflexible, inflexíbel

• flexibilidade

• “flexible”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, since 2012

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  (file)

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

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

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

flexible m or f (masculine and feminine plural flexibles)

1. flexible (clarification of this definition is needed)

   Antonym: inflexible

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