Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Facile

Fac′ile

Adj.
[L.
facilis
, prop., capable of being done or made, hence, facile, easy, fr.
facere
to make, do: cf. F.
facile
. Srr
Fact
, and cf.
Faculty
.]
1.
Easy to be done or performed: not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor.
Order . . . will render the work
facile
and delightful.
Evelyn.
2.
Easy to be surmounted or removed; easily conquerable; readily mastered.
The
facile
gates of hell too slightly barred.
Milton.
3.
Easy of access or converse; mild; courteous; not haughty, austere, or distant; affable; complaisant.
I meant she should be courteous,
facile
, sweet.
B. Jonson.
4.
Easily persuaded to good or bad; yielding; ductile to a fault; pliant; flexible.
Since Adam, and his
facile
consort Eve,
Lost Paradise, deceived by me.
Milton.
This is treating Burns like a child, a person of so
facile
a disposition as not to be trusted without a keeper on the king’s highway.
Prof. Wilson.
Fac′ile-ly
,
adv.
Fac′ile-ness
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition


Facile

FAC'ILE

,
Adj.
[L. facilis, from facio, to make.]
1.
Properly, easy to be done or performed; easy; not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor.
Order - will render the work facile and delightful.
2.
Easy to be surmounted or removed; easily conquerable.
The facile gates of hell too slightly barred.
3.
Easy of access or converse; mild; courteous; not haughty, austere or distant.
I mean she should be courteous, facile, sweet.
4.
Pliant; flexible; easily persuaded to good or bad; yielding; ductile to a fault.
Since Adam, and his facile consort Eve,
Lost Paradise, deceived by me.

Definition 2024


facile

facile

English

Adjective

facile (comparative more facile, superlative most facile)

  1. Easy, now especially in a disparaging sense; contemptibly easy. [from 15th c.]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol.I, New York, 2001, p.243:
      as he that is benumbed with cold sits shaking, that might relieve himself with a little exercise or stirring, do they complain, but will not use the facile and ready means to do themselves good […].
  2. (now rare) Amiable, flexible, easy to get along with. [from 16th c.]
    His facile disposition made him many friends.
  3. Effortless, fluent (of work, abilities etc.). [from 17th c.]
    • 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society 2010, p. 54:
      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.
    • 1974, Graham Greene, The Honorary Consul, Pocket Books, New York, p.54:
      "Discipline," Jorge Julio Saavedra was repeating, "is more necessary to me than to other more facile writers.
    • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 372:
      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.
  4. Lazy, simplistic (especially of explanations, discussions etc.). [from 19th c.]
    • 2012, Chris Huhne, The Guardian, 3 May 2012:
      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.
  5. (chemistry) Of a reaction or other process, taking place readily.
    Decarboxylation of beta-keto acids is facile...

Synonyms

  • (skillful): See also Wikisaurus:skillful

Related terms

Translations

  • Kyrgyz: жеңил (ky) (ceñil), тил алгыч (ky) (til algıç), көнгүч (ky) (köngüç), элпек (ky) (elpek)

Esperanto

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /faˈtsi.le/

Adverb

facile

  1. easily

Antonyms

Related terms


French

Etymology

From Latin facilis (easy), from faciō (I do, make).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fa.sil/
  • Homophone: faciles
  • Hyphenation: fa‧cile

Adjective

facile m, f (plural faciles)

  1. easy, simple

Antonyms

Anagrams


Interlingua

Adjective

facile (comparative plus facile, superlative le plus facile)

  1. easy

Antonyms


Italian

Etymology

From Latin facilis (easy), from faciō (I do, make).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfaː.tʃi.le/

Adjective

facile m, f (masculine and feminine plural facili)

  1. easy
  2. cosy
  3. effortless

Related terms

Anagrams


Latin

Adverb

facile (comparable facilius, superlative facillimē)

  1. easily

Synonyms

References

  • facile in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • facile in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • an easy, fluent style: expedita et facile currens oratio
    • that is self-evident, goes without saying: hoc facile intellegi potest

Middle French

Etymology

1441, borrowing from Latin facilis[1].

Adjective

facile m, f (plural faciles)

  1. easy (not difficult)

References

  1. facile” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).