1
2
: easily influenced : yielding
a pliant Congress that agrees to anything the president wants
3
: suitable for varied uses
pliantly
adverb
pliantness
noun
Examples of pliant in a Sentence
a pliant Congress that will do whatever the President wants
a pliant branch bent low with the weight of ripe fruit
Recent Examples on the Web
Since the raid, US officials have been working to establish a pliant interim government in Venezuela and have demanded, among other things, that Venezuela release its political prisoners, according to a source familiar with the US administration’s briefing with key lawmakers this week.
—
Uriel Blanco, CNN Money, 8 Jan. 2026
Her baskets are mostly the yellowish brown color of her main thread, strips of basket rush made pliant after soaking in water.
—Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
Advertisement Rodríguez was not immediately pliant.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 5 Jan. 2026
Its root system is aggressive, shallow, and rather pliant, which makes the tree very unstable.
—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 30 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Pliant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pliant. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
Kids Definition
pliant
adjective
pli·ant
ˈplī-ənt 
1
: pliable sense 1, flexible
pliant willow twigs
2
3
: adjusting to changing conditions : adaptable
pliantly
adverb
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