flexibility

F4L1E1X8I1B3I1L1I1T1Y4
US, UK/ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/

noun

The quality of being flexible, whether physically or metaphorically.

“I had some flexibility in terms of whether to stay in a hotel or in a bed-and-breakfast.”

CommonScrabble 26

Meanings

nounflexibility (countable and uncountable, plural flexibilities)

plural flexibilities

  1. countableuncountableThe quality of being flexible, whether physically or metaphorically.

    Researchers have developed a new gel they say is as durable as metal, has the flexibility of jello, and could revolutionize how our bodies heal and age.

    2017 July 16, Jenny Marc, Katy Scott, “Revolutionary gel is five times stronger than steel”, in CNN, archived from the original on 02 Jul 2025
    1 more example

    Whether redundancies come and whether they result in industrial action remains to be seen, but it's clear that the RMT is not prepared to show any flexibility towards rail companies.

    2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “A winter of discontent caused by threat of union action”, in Rail, page 63

    Synonyms: pliability, suppleness, versatility

  2. countableuncountableThe quality of having options.

    I had some flexibility in terms of whether to stay in a hotel or in a bed-and-breakfast.

    1 more example

    For millions of people like Poteat, pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities have made health care much more accessible. […] “What the flexibility of telehealth allows during Covid was to shift gears extraordinarily rapidly,” said Dr. Shawn Ryan, a regional director of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

    2022 April 29, Tasnim Ahmed, “Back to the doctor’s office? Here’s what’s next for telehealth after the pandemic”, in CNN, archived from the original on 07 May 2022

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe quality of being flexible, whether physically or metaphorically.

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe property of being flexible; easily bent or shaped

nounthe quality of being adaptable or variable

nounthe trait of being easily persuaded

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinflectō“to bend, curve”
  2. Late Latinflexibilitās
  3. Frenchflexibilité
  4. Englishflexibility

From French flexibilité, from Late Latin flexibilitās, from Latin flectō (“to bend, curve”). Equivalent to flexible + -ity = flex + -ibility.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مُرُونة
  • مُرُونة (murūna)quality of being flexible
Catalan flexibilitat
  • flexibilitatquality of being flexible
Czech ohebnost
  • ohebnostquality of being flexible
Danish bøjelighed, fleksibilitet
  • bøjelighedquality of being flexible
  • fleksibilitetquality of being flexible
  • smidighedquality of being flexible
Esperanto fleksebleco
  • flekseblecoquality of being flexible
Finnish joustavuus
  • joustavuusquality of being flexible
French souplesse, flexibilité
  • souplessequality of being flexible
  • flexibilitéquality of being flexible
German Flexibilität
  • Flexibilitätquality of being flexible
Greek ευελιξία, ευκαμψία
  • ευελιξία (evelixía)quality of being flexible
  • ευκαμψία (efkampsía)quality of being flexible
Hebrew גְּמִישׁוּת
  • גְּמִישׁוּת (gmishút)quality of being flexible
Italian flessibilità
  • flessibilitàquality of being flexible
Japanese 柔軟性, 可撓性
  • 柔軟性 (jūnansei)quality of being flexible
  • 可撓性 (katōsei)quality of being flexible
  • フレキシビリティ (furekishibiriti)quality of being flexible
Korean 유연성
  • 유연성 (yuyeonseong)quality of being flexible
Latin flexibilitās
  • flexibilitāsquality of being flexible
Māori ngohengohenga
  • ngohengohengaquality of being flexible
Norwegian Bokmål fleksibilitet, bøyelighet
  • fleksibilitetquality of being flexible
  • bøyelighetquality of being flexible
Polish elastyczność
  • elastycznośćquality of being flexible
Portuguese flexibilidade
  • flexibilidadequality of being flexible
Romanian flexibilitate
  • flexibilitatequality of being flexible
Russian ги́бкость
  • ги́бкость (gíbkostʹ)quality of being flexible
Slovak flexibilita
  • flexibilitaquality of being flexible
Spanish flexibilidad
  • flexibilidadquality of being flexible
Swedish flexibilitet
  • flexibilitetquality of being flexible
Tagalog pagkahutukin
  • pagkahutukinquality of being flexible
Thai ความยืดหยุ่น
  • ความยืดหยุ่น (kwaam-yʉ̂ʉt-yùn)quality of being flexible
Turkish esneklik, elastikiyet
  • esneklikquality of being flexible
  • elastikiyetquality of being flexible

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with flexibility

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

flexibility. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flexibility

MLA

“flexibility.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flexibility. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flexibility,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flexibility.

Source: flexibility on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.