tensile

/ˈtɛnsəl/

Use the adjective tensile to describe materials that can be shaped, such as the tensile clay that a potter crafts into a bowl or vase.

Tensile rhymes with "pencil." It might remind you of the word tense, and in fact, tensile can also mean "having to do with tension." Think about a tensile material, like wire. It will stretch and stretch until it reaches its limit. Drawn tight, with no slack, the wire has tensile stress.

Definitions of tensile

1. adjective

   of or relating to tension
   “tensile stress”

   “tensile pull”
2. adjective

   capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out
   “made of highly tensile steel alloy”

   synonyms: ductile, malleable, pliable, pliant, tractile

   formed

   having or given a form or shape