flexible

From Middle French flexible, from Latin flexibilis, from flectō (“to bend, curve”). Morphologically flex +‎ -ible.

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

  • Audio (California):

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  • Audio (Texas):

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

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 (date written), 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^[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.

• “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): (Valencia) [flekˈsi.ble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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flexible m or f (masculine and feminine plural flexibles)

1. flexible

   Antonym: inflexible

• disc flexible
• flexibilitzar

• flexibilitat

• “flexible”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “flexible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “flexible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “flexible”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Borrowed from Latin flexibilis.

• IPA^(key): /flɛk.sibl/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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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

• flexível (reintegrationist)
• flexíbel

Learned borrowing from Latin flexibilis.

• IPA^(key): /flekˈsible/ [flekˈs̺i.β̞lɪ]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Hyphenation: fle‧xi‧ble

flexible m or f (plural flexibles)

1. flexible

   Antonyms: inflexible, inflexíbel

• “flexible”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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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)

   Synonym: doblegable

   Antonym: inflexible

• “flexible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

flexible

1. definite natural masculine singular of flexibel