flexible

/ˈflɛksəbəl/

/ˈflɛksɪbəl/

Something that is flexible is easily bent without breaking. The flexible drinking straw was invented in the 1930s by a man who saw his daughter struggling to drink a milkshake with a straight paper straw.

The word flexible can refer to bendable physical objects or to intangibles like a person's mind, which can be changed. It can even refer to work environments that can adapt schedules and benefits to fit a worker's individual needs. Being physically flexible usually means good health, with no pain in movement. In all, it's great to be flexible, to be able to bend without breaking and bounce back, ready to keep going.

Definitions of flexible

1. adjective

   able to flex; able to bend easily
   “slim flexible birches”

   synonyms: flexile

   elastic

   capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression; springy

   bendable, pliable, pliant, waxy

   capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking

   double-jointed

   having unusually flexible joints especially of the limbs or fingers

   limber, supple

   (used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely

   limber

   (used of artifacts) easily bent

   spinnable, spinnbar

   capable of being spun into fibres

   stretched

   (of muscles) relieved of stiffness by stretching

   antonyms:

   inflexible

   resistant to being bent

   inelastic

   not elastic

   muscle-bound

   having stiff muscles as the result of excessive exercise

   rigid, stiff

   incapable of or resistant to bending

   semirigid

   not fully rigid
2. adjective

   bending and snapping back readily without breaking
   synonyms: whippy

   elastic

   capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression; springy
3. adjective

   able to adjust readily to different conditions
   “a flexible personality”

   synonyms: elastic, pliable, pliant

   adaptable

   capable of adapting (of becoming or being made suitable) to a particular situation or use
4. adjective

   capable of being changed
   “flexible schedules”

   synonyms:

   limber, supple

   (used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable

   negotiable, on the table

   able to be negotiated or arranged by compromise

   antonyms:

   inflexible

   incapable of change

   adamant, adamantine, inexorable, intransigent

   impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason

   die-hard, rock-ribbed

   tradition-bound and obstinately opinionated

   fossilised, fossilized, ossified

   set in a rigidly conventional pattern of behavior, habits, or beliefs

   hard-core

   stubbornly resistant to change or improvement

   brassbound, ironclad

   inflexibly entrenched and unchangeable
5. adjective

   making or willing to make concessions
   synonyms: compromising, conciliatory

   yielding

   tending to give in or surrender or agree