Flexible

How to spell flexible

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce flexible

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does flexible mean?

1. adjectiveAble to bend easily without breaking, or able to adapt readily to changing needs and circumstances.

Flexible in a sentence

• The new contract offers flexible working hours for staff with families.

• A flexible garden hose coils neatly around the reel.

Where does flexible come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb flectere, meaning 'to bend' or 'to curve', whose past participle stem flex- gave rise to the adjective flexibilis, meaning 'able to be bent'. English adopted it in the early 1400s, at first in the literal sense of physical materials that could bend without breaking, and only later in the figurative sense of people, plans, and schedules that can adapt to changing circumstances. The same flex- root sits inside a whole family of English words, including 'reflect' (literally 'to bend back'), 'inflect', and the modern gym-floor sense of 'flex'. The spelling keeps the Latin -ible ending rather than -able, which is the usual trap, since the root verb came complete with its own -i- vowel in flexibilis. Picturing the everyday 'flex' inside it helps anchor that the word turns on bending and adapting.

How the word is built

• flex (from flectere: to bend)
• -ible (capable of)