supple

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See also: Supple

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English souple, from Old French souple, soupple (soft, lithe, yielding), from Latin supplic-, supplex (suppliant, submissive, kneeling), of uncertain formation. Either from sub + plicō (bend) (compare complex), or from sub + plācō (placate). More at sub-, placate.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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supple (comparative suppler, superlative supplest)

  1. Pliant, flexible, easy to bend.
    • 2011 July 25, Don Peck, “Can the Middle Class Be Saved?”, in The Atlantic[1]:
      Global supply chains, meanwhile, have grown both tighter and more supple since the late 1990s—the result of improving information technology and of freer trade—making routine work easier to relocate.
  2. Lithe and agile when moving and bending.
    supple joints
    supple fingers
  3. (figuratively) Compliant; yielding to the will of others.
    a supple horse
  4. (oenology) Smooth and drinkable.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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supple (third-person singular simple present supples, present participle suppling, simple past and past participle suppled)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To make or become supple.
  2. (transitive) To make compliant, submissive, or obedient.

Translations

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Anagrams

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Latin

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Verb

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supplē

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of suppleō