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, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈflɛk.sɪ.bəl/, /ˈflɛk.sə.bəl/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

  • Audio (Texas):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈflek.sɪ.bəl/

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, [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

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
• pliable
• pliant
• supple
• tractable
• wavering

Derived terms

• flexatone
• flexbone
• flexecutive
• flexibilization
• flexibilize
• flexibleness
• flexible sigmoidoscopy
• flexible time
• flexibly
• flexihours
• flexisexual
• flexisexuality
• flexitank
• flexitarian
• flexivore
• heteroflexible
• homoflexible
• hyperflexible
• make flexible
• nonflexible
• rectiflexible
• semiflexible
• ultraflexible
• unflexible

Related terms

• flexibility
• inflexible

Translations

easily bent without breaking

• Albanian: përthyeshëm (sq)
• 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 (eo) (bendable), fleksiĝema (eo) (easily bendable), elasta (eo) (deformable)
• 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)
• Ingrian: notkia, nodra
• 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 (pl), 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)
• Vietnamese: co dãn (vi), co giãn (vi)
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can

easy and compliant

• Arabic: مَرِن (marin)
• Armenian: զիջող (hy) (ziǰoġ)
• 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
• Odia: ନମନୀୟ (or) (namaniya)
• Polish: elastyczny (pl)
• Portuguese: flexível (pt)
• Russian: покла́дистый (ru) (pokládistyj), пода́тливый (ru) (podátlivyj)
• Spanish: flexible (es)
• Turkish: elastik (tr)
• Ukrainian: ла́гідний (láhidnyj), покла́дливий (pokládlyvyj), посту́пливий (postúplyvyj)
• Vietnamese: linh hoạt (vi), linh động (vi)

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
• Polish: elastyczny (pl)
• Portuguese: flexível (pt)
• Russian: ги́бкий (ru) (gíbkij)
• Spanish: flexible (es)
• Thai: ยืดหยุ่น (th) (yʉ̂ʉt-yùn)
• Vietnamese: linh hoạt (vi)

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^[1], 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.

References

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

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin flexibilis.

Adjective

flexible (epicene, plural flexibles)

1. flexible

   Synonym: flesible

   Antonym: inflexible

Related terms

• flexibilidá

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

flexible m or f (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, 2025.
• “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.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɛk.sibl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: flexibles
• Hyphenation: flexible

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.

Galician

Alternative forms

• flexível (reintegrationist)
• flexíbel

Etymology

Learned borrowing 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 (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

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

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 m or f (masculine and feminine plural flexibles)

1. flexible (clarification of this definition is needed)

   Antonym: inflexible

Derived terms

• disco flexible
• flexibilidad
• flexibilización
• flexibilizar
• flexiblemente

Related terms

• flexión
• flexionar

Further reading

• “flexible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Adjective

flexible

1. definite natural masculine singular of flexibel