different between wieldy vs pliant

English

Etymology

From Middle English w??ld?, weldy (“agile, vigorous; of a shield: easy or satisfying to wield”), from w??lden, welde (“to govern, preside over, reign, rule; to command, control, dominate; to dwell, reside; to accomplish, bring about; to overcome, prevail; to handle (a tool, weapon, etc.), use”), from Old English wylde (“controlling, dominant”), from Proto-Germanic *waldiz (“manageable; powerful”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h?welh?- (“to rule; powerful, strong”); analysable as wield +? -y. Later uses of sense 2 (“capable of being easily wielded”) are likely a back-formation from unwieldy.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?wi?ldi/, [?w??ld?]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?wildi/
• Hyphenation: wiel?dy

Adjective

wieldy (comparative wieldier, superlative wieldiest)

1. (obsolete except Britain, dialectal) Able to wield one's body well; active, dexterous.

   Synonyms: agile, nimble, vigorous
2. Capable of being easily wielded or managed; handy.

   Synonyms: manageable, wieldsome

   Antonym: unwieldy

Derived terms

• wieldiness

Related terms

• unwieldy
• wield
• wielder
• wieldsome

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Wildey, dewily, widely

English

Etymology

From Middle English pliaunt, from Old French ploiant, present participle of ploiier (“to fold”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pla??nt/
• Rhymes: -a??nt

Adjective

pliant (comparative more pliant, superlative most pliant)

1. Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking
   • 1917, The National Geographic Magazine April 1917, The Warblers of North America

     Whether in its northern or southern home, the black-throated blue warbler builds its nest of bark, roots, and other pliant material, loose and rather bulky, in a variety of saplings, bushes, and weeds, but always a few inches or a few feet from the ground.

   Synonyms: flexible, pliable, lithe, limber, plastic

2. (figuratively) Easily influenced; tractable.
   • 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,^[1]

     I must haue wanton Poets, pleasant wits,

     Musitians, that with touching of a string

     May draw the pliant king which way I please:

   • 1839, William Gilmore Simms, “The Brooklet” in Southern Passages and Pictures, New York: George Adlard, p. 2,^[2]

     Yet there was pleasant sadness that became

     Meetly the gentle heart and pliant sense,

     In that same idlesse—gazing on that brook

   • 1988, A. J. Langguth, Patriots,

     [The king] had a pliant prime minister and a general who was telling him what he wanted to hear.

Derived terms

• pliantness

Related terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• -platin, Taplin, plaint, platin

French

Verb

pliant

1. present participle of plier

Adjective

pliant (feminine singular pliante, masculine plural pliants, feminine plural pliantes)

1. pliant

   Sa mère a acheté un vélo pliant. - His mother bought a folding bicycle.

Derived terms

• chaise pliante
• lit pliant

Further reading

• “pliant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• pilant, plaint

Romanian

Etymology

From French pliant.

Adjective

pliant m or n (feminine singular pliant?, masculine plural plian?i, feminine and neuter plural pliante)

1. folding

Declension