malleable

mal·lea·ble

adjective \ˈma-lē-ə-bəl, ˈmal-yə-bəl, ˈma-lə-bəl\

Definition of MALLEABLE

1

: capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer or by the pressure of rollers

2

a : capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences

b : having a capacity for adaptive change

— mal·lea·bil·i·ty \ˌma-lē-ə-ˈbi-lə-tē, ˌmal-yə-, ˌma-lə-\ noun

Examples of MALLEABLE

1. <the cult leader took advantage of the malleable, compliant personalities of his followers>
2. The brothers Warner presented a flexible, malleable world that defied Newton, a world of such plasticity that anything imaginable was possible. —Billy Collins, Wall Street Journal, 28–29 June 2008
3. At each landing the villagers had carved the wonderfully malleable silt into staircases, terraces, crenellations, and ziggurats. —Kenneth Brower, National Geographic Traveler, March 2000
4. The boy seemed to me possessed by a blind, invalid arrogance, and every human being, as his eye flicked over or flinched against them, became, immediately, as malleable as his mother and his father. —James Baldwin, The Evidence of Things Not Seen, 1985

Origin of MALLEABLE

Middle English malliable, from Medieval Latin malleabilis, from malleare to hammer, from Latin malleus hammer — more at maul

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to MALLEABLE

Synonyms

plastic, moldable, shapable (or shapeable), waxy

Antonyms

established, fixed, immutable, inelastic, inflexible, invariable, nonmalleable, ramrod, set, unadaptable, unalterable, unbudgeable, unchangeable

Related Words

adaptable; bendable, bendy [chiefly British], ductile, pliable, pliant, supple, waxen, willowy; elastic, flexible, flexile, limber, resilient, workable; bending, giving, kneadable, tractable, yielding

Near Antonyms

inflexible, intractable, rigid, stiff

See Synonym Discussion at plastic

Other Metals and Metallurgy Terms

assay, bloom, bullion, ductile, ingot, patina, plate, temper, tensile