facile

comparative more facile · superlative most facile

1. derogatoryusuallyEasy; contemptibly easy.First known use 15th c.

   […] as he that is benummed with cold, sits still shaking, that might relieve himselfe with a little exercise or stirring, doe they complaine, but will not use the facile and ready meanes to doe themselves good; […]

   1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, page 85

2. archaicAmiable, flexible, easy to get along with.First known use 16th c.

   His facile disposition made him many friends.

3. Effortless, fluent (of work, abilities etc.).First known use 17th c.

   Her writing was facile and articulate.

   4 more examples

   we can learn the impression that he made upon a stranger and a foreigner at this period, thanks to the facile pen of Fannu Burney.

   1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, published 2010, page 54

   The centenary of Bradshaw has proved further scope in the railway field for his facile pen to be devoted to an officially-sponsored work, and the "most famous guide in the world" is fortunate in its choice of a biographer.

   1940 July, “Railway Literature: The History of Bradshaw. By G. Royde Smith. London: Henry Blacklock & Co., Bradshaw House, Surrey Street, Strand, W.C.2; … 76pp. Illustrated. Price 3s. 6d. net.”, in Railway Magazine, page 432

   "Discipline," Jorge Julio Saavedra was repeating, "is more necessary to me than to other more facile writers.

   1974, Graham Greene, The Honorary Consul, New York: Pocket Books, page 54

   A facile and persuasive writer, he also turned out countless newspaper articles on Russian aims in Central Asia and how best these could be thwarted.

   1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 372

4. Lazy, simplistic, superficial (especially of explanations, discussions etc.).First known use 19th c.

   He arrived with a facile understanding of her works.

   1 more example

   There is a facile view that our green commitments – to tackling climate change, avoiding air and water pollution, protecting natural habitats – are an obstacle to growth. The message of the commodity markets is surely different.

   2012 May 3, Chris Huhne, “It's green growth or nothing”, in The Guardian

5. chemistryOf a reaction or other process, taking place readily.

   Decarboxylation of beta-keto acids is facile.