Malleable means able to be hammered, pressed, or bent into different shapes without breaking. Gold is one of the most malleable metals: you can hammer a single ounce of it into a sheet thin enough to cover an entire basketball court. Blacksmiths heat iron until it becomes malleable enough to shape into horseshoes or gates.

When something is malleable, it yields to pressure and takes on new forms instead of shattering or snapping back.

People use malleable to describe minds and personalities too. A malleable person adapts their thinking when they learn new information, rather than rigidly sticking to old ideas no matter what. Young children are especially malleable because they're still forming their understanding of the world.

The opposite of malleable is brittle (breaks easily) or rigid (won't bend at all). A malleable piece of clay becomes a sculpture. A malleable schedule can adjust when plans change. A malleable student stays open to learning new ways of solving problems, even when those methods feel unfamiliar at first.