Supplest

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exhibiting great flexibility and ease of movement in form or structure
2. Able to bend or move with agility and without resistance
3. Characterized by the ability to adapt movement smoothly and gracefully

Etymology: "Supplest" is simply the superlative of "supple," so its story is really the story of the base word. "Supple" came into Middle English as "souple," borrowed from Old French, where it meant "soft, lithe, yielding." Behind the French lies Latin "supplex," meaning "suppliant" or "submissive," originally a word for someone kneeling in humble request. The Latin word's own origins are uncertain. It may be built from "sub" (under) plus "plicare" (to bend), the same bending element found in "complex," or from "sub" plus "placare" (to placate). Either way, the image is of bending low, and the sense moved from physically bending to being pliant in body and mind. That shift explains the modern meaning: a supple body or material is one that bends easily without breaking. "Supplest" therefore describes whatever yields most readily of all things compared, the most flexible in movement.

Synonyms: most flexible, most pliable, most adaptable

Antonyms: stiffest, least flexible, least adaptable