## Meanings
1. Able to bend and move easily; flexible.
2. Soft and easy to bend, used of materials like leather.
3. Quick to adapt or change; flexible in thinking.

## Examples
- Years of yoga had kept her body remarkably supple.
- The new gloves were made of soft, supple leather.
- The job demands a supple mind that can handle sudden changes.

## Derived Forms
- supplejack
- suppleness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: souple

## Etymology
From Middle English souple, from Old French souple, soupple (“soft, lithe, yielding”), from Latin supplic-, supplex (“suppliant, submissive, kneeling”), of uncertain formation. Either from sub + plicō (“bend”) (compare complex), or from sub + plācō (“placate”). More at sub-, placate.

## AI Etymology
Supple is from Middle English souple, from Old French souple, soupple (“soft, lithe, yielding”), from Latin supplic-, supplex (“suppliant, submissive, kneeling”), of uncertain formation. Either from sub + plicō (“bend”) (compare complex), or from sub + plācō (“placate”). More at sub-, placate. In present-day use, it can mean able to bend and move easily; flexible, or soft and easy to bend, used of materials like leather. Derived formations include supplejack, suppleness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Cause, Change & Process

markdown

supple

Meanings

Thesaurus

Common collocations

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback