Moldable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being shaped into diverse configurations or designs
2. Having the quality of being easily shaped or formed into various shapes or objects
3. Describing a material or substance that can be bent or molded without breaking

Etymology: "Moldable" is a plain compound of two English parts: "mould" and the suffix "-able". The noun "mould" (in its American spelling "mold") is an older English word that long predates the adjective, and the "-able" ending is the familiar suffix meaning "capable of being," which English inherited through Old French from Latin "-abilis." Joined together, the pair means exactly what it sounds like: something that can be shaped in a mould or pressed into form. The "-able" suffix did the heavy lifting in English, attaching to many verbs over the centuries, while "mould" itself traces back through Old English to the same ancient root that gave rise to words for crumbling earth and soil. The "mould" in the word is therefore a bit of ground-level imagery: a shapeless mass that a craftsman presses into a form.

Synonyms: flexible, shapeable, formable, adaptable, modifiable

Antonyms: rigid, inflexible, unyielding, stiff, hard