malleable

malleable
adjective
Synonyms 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


Did you know?
Language is constantly evolving; the meanings, spellings, and pronunciations of words are reshaped over time. Take, for example, the Latin noun malleus, meaning "hammer." This word was adapted to create the Latin verb malleare, meaning "to hammer," which led eventually to the English adjective malleable. Malleable originally meant "capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer," and over time adopted the broader sense "capable of being shaped, altered, or controlled." If you guessed that maul and mallet, other English words for specific types of hammers, are also modeled from malleus, you have hit the nail on the head.

Synonyms
moldable
plastic
shapable
shapeable
waxy
Choose the Right Synonym for 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
Examples of malleable in a Sentence
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
the cult leader took advantage of the malleable, compliant personalities of his followers
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Lamar, arguably in the midst of the most incredible run in hip-hop history, appears thrice on the project and is pretty malleable, sliding seamlessly into Carti’s orbit.
—Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2025
But consistency has eluded Fedotov, who at 28 years old may just not be young or malleable enough to adjust his game to the best league in the world at this stage of his career.
—Kevin Kurz, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
All of the still image color profiles are available for movies, plus a flat L-Log look with lower contrast and saturation that provides a neutral starting point for more malleable color grading in the editing room.
—PCMAG, 14 Mar. 2025
Archaeological evidence shows that by 8000 B.C., Neolithic humans began incorporating this malleable metal into their daily lives, later crafting tools that replaced their stone predecessors.
—Ed MacHa, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025

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

First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of malleable was in the 14th century
See more words from the same century
Browse Nearby Words
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