facile

adjective fac·ile \ ˈfa-səl \

Updated on: 29 Apr 2018

Definition of facile

1 a (1) : easily accomplished or attained

a facile victory

(2) : shallow, simplistic

I am not concerned … with offering any facile solution for so complex a problem
—T. S. Eliot

b : used or comprehended with ease

c : readily manifested and often lacking sincerity or depth

facile tears

2 archaic : mild or pleasing in manner or disposition

3 a : ready, fluent

facile prose

b : poised, assured

a facile lecturer

—

facilely

play \ˈfa-sə(l)-lē\ adverb

—

facileness

play \ˈfa-səl-nəs\ noun

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Examples of facile in a Sentence

But in the less palmy days of their marriage and the final years of his life, Lennon produced (with Yoko's help) shallow, facile recordings that cannibalized his early work. —Francine Prose, The Lives of the Muses, 2002
Melville shrank from atheism, and from all facile theisms. —John Updike, Hugging the Shore, (1983) 1984
… I saw that my old enemy was dead, Amy [Lowell], noble Amy. How I despised myself then for my facile self-pity and for my failure to die—how she seemed to have worsted me once again. —Conrad Aiken 14 May 1925, in Selected Letters of Conrad Aiken, 1978
This problem needs more than just a facile solution.
He is a wonderfully facile writer.

Recent Examples of facile from the Web

On the page, Wamariya and the journalist Elizabeth Weil set out to sabotage facile uplift.

— ann hulbert, The Atlantic, "The Girl Who Smiled Beads Defies Easy Uplift," 24 Apr. 2018
However, such facile comparisons fail to account for the insidious nature of fitness, the difficulty in managing it, and the long-term problems both on and off the bike that are commonly associated with it.

— eben weiss, Outside Online, "The Many Pitfalls of Cycling Fitness," 24 Apr. 2018
Many of the more facile claims made by Brexiteers have been disproved, at some cost to Britain’s reputation abroad.

— fraser nelson, WSJ, "The U.K. Is Doing Just Fine, Thanks," 23 Mar. 2018
Most of them don’t, and characters like Zack’s love interest Lex, a collection of cheap fantasy traits who only serves to ease his path and flatter his ego, could just as readily be cut or expanded into something less embarrassingly facile.

— tasha robinson, The Verge, "What the Armada adaptation can learn from Ready Player One’s successes," 9 Apr. 2018
The problem is, the debate usually devolves into a facile back and forth that edifies no one.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Don't bother Doc. He's mock-drafting the 2018 NFL Draft. Pay attention, mobsters.," 21 Mar. 2018
This superpower fracas defies easy explanation or facile arguments.

— robert hackett, Fortune, "Data Sheet—Facebook's Biggest Problem? Its Arrogance," 19 Mar. 2018
With a less compelling lead performance, the movie’s dodgy limitations and flashy, facile editing and cross-cutting might have proved insufferable.

— michael phillips, Detroit Free Press, "Review: ‘I, Tonya’ stars win the gold," 4 Jan. 2018
But what was no doubt meant to be a smart, humorous and incisive war of wits is instead mostly grating, facile and unfunny.

— cary darling, Houston Chronicle, "Don't open invitation to 'The Party'," 28 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'facile.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Would you have guessed that "facile" and "difficult" are related? They are! "Facile" comes to us through Middle French, from the Latin word facilis, meaning "easy, and ultimately from facere, meaning "to make or do." "Difficult" traces to "facilis" as well, but its history also involves the negative prefix dis-, meaning "not." "Facile" can mean "easy" or "easily done," as befits its Latin roots, but it now often adds the connotation of undue haste or shallowness, as in "facile answers to complex questions."

Origin and Etymology of facile

borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin facilis "easy, accommodating, nimble," from fac-, stem of facere "to make, bring about, perform, do" + -ilis ¹-ile — more at fact

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

See Words from the same year

facile Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of facile

easy, facile, simple, light, effortless, smooth mean not demanding effort or involving difficulty. easy is applicable either to persons or things imposing tasks or to activity required by such tasks.