meaning - What is the difference between "pliable" and "pliant"?


I am confused between pliable and pliant. What's the difference? The explanation in the Oxford Dictionary seems vague:


pliable
        1. easily bent; flexible
            [quality leather is pliable and will not crack]
        2. easily influenced
            [pliable teenage minds]

pliant
        1. easily bent
            [pliant willow stems]
        2. easily influenced or directed; yielding
            [a more pliant prime minister]

Answer



There isn't a difference in meaning; they're synonyms. They are also interchangeable as regards usage; wherever one fits, the other would too. Pliable is more common, though:



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