Pliable means easy to bend, shape, or mold without breaking. A pliable material like clay or warm wax can be formed into different shapes with your hands. Fresh pizza dough is pliable: you can stretch it, fold it, and shape it however you need. Once bread dough sits too long, though, it becomes stiff and loses its pliability.

The word also describes people who easily adapt their thinking or behavior. A pliable person adjusts to new situations and considers different viewpoints. While flexibility can be valuable, extreme pliability might mean someone changes their opinions too easily, swaying with whoever spoke to them last. When your friend agrees with everything everyone says without thinking for herself, she's being too pliable.

Think of how pliers can bend a piece of wire: the wire needs to be pliable enough to bend without snapping. Whether describing materials or people, pliability is about being able to change shape or direction while staying intact.