11 February 2014

pliant

[plahy-uhnt]

adjective

1. bending readily; flexible; supple; adaptable: She manipulated the pliant clay.
2. easily influenced; yielding to others; compliant: He has a pliant nature.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English < Old French, present participle of plier to ply2 ; see -ant

Related forms
pli·an·cy, pli·ant·ness, noun
pli·ant·ly, adverb
non·pli·an·cy, noun
non·pli·ant, adjective
non·pli·ant·ly, adverb

Synonyms
1, 2. pliable, flexile. See flexible. 2. manageable, tractable, docile.

Anagram

lip tan
plan it

Today’s aphorism

Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.

– Noam Chomsky

On this day

11 February 1847 – birth of Thomas Edison, U.S. inventor. Died 18 October 1931.

11 February 1916 – Emma Goldman arrested for campaigning for birth control in New York.

11 February 1945 – The Yalta Agreement is signed by Josef Stalin (USSR), Winston Churchill (UK), Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA), regarding the control of Germany once World War II finishes.

11 February 1979 – the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, is overthrown by the Iranian Revolution, and replaced by the Ayatollah Khomeini.