malleable

adjective mal·lea·ble \ˈma-lē-ə-bəl, ˈmal-yə-bəl, ˈma-lə-bəl\

: capable of being stretched or bent into different shapes

: capable of being easily changed or influenced

Full Definition of MALLEABLE

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

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

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Examples of MALLEABLE

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
At each landing the villagers had carved the wonderfully malleable silt into staircases, terraces, crenellations, and ziggurats. —Kenneth Brower, National Geographic Traveler, March 2000
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
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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

Synonym Discussion of MALLEABLE

plastic, pliable, pliant, ductile, malleable, adaptable mean susceptible of being modified in form or nature. plastic applies to substances soft enough to be molded yet capable of hardening into the desired fixed form <plastic materials allow the sculptor greater freedom>. pliable suggests something easily bent, folded, twisted, or manipulated <pliable rubber tubing>. pliant may stress flexibility and sometimes connote springiness <an athletic shoe with a pliant sole>. ductile applies to what can be drawn out or extended with ease <ductile metals such as copper>. malleable applies to what may be pressed or beaten into shape <the malleable properties of gold>. adaptable implies the capability of being easily modified to suit other conditions, needs, or uses <computer hardware that is adaptable>.