facile

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(făs'əl) pronunciation
adj.
  1. Done or achieved with little effort or difficulty; easy. See synonyms at easy.
  2. Working, acting, or speaking with effortless ease and fluency.
  3. Arrived at without due care, effort, or examination; superficial: proposed a facile solution to a complex problem.
  4. Readily manifested, together with an aura of insincerity and lack of depth: a facile slogan devised by politicians.
  5. Archaic. Pleasingly mild, as in disposition or manner.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin facilis.]

facilely fac'ile·ly adv.
facileness fac'ile·ness n.


pronounced fas-iyl, means 'easy, smooth, effortless' with reference to people or what they do, and there is always a derogatory implication of something too easily achieved and of little value. A facile speaker is one for whom speaking comes easily and who therefore speaks glibly (rather than persuasively), and a facile task is one that is easily done but hardly worthwhile. If these connotations are not intended, a more neutral or positive synonym such as (with reference to people) able, accomplished, fluent, etc. or (with reference to achievements) effortless, fluent, natural, etc., should be used instead.

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adjective

  1. Posing no difficulty: easy, effortless, simple, smooth. Informal snap. Idioms: easy as ABC, easy as falling off a log, easy as one-two-three, easy as pie, like taking candy from a baby, nothing to it. See easy/hard.
  2. Moving or performing quickly, lightly, and easily: agile, brisk, nimble, quick, spry. See ability/inability.
  3. Characterized by ready but often insincere or superficial discourse: glib, slick, smooth-tongued. See surface/depth, words.
  4. Exhibiting or possessing skill and ease in performance: adroit, clever, deft, dexterous, handy, nimble, slick. See ability/inability.


adj

Definition: easy; easily mastered
Antonyms: arduous, complicated, confusing, difficult, hard, involved, laborious, profound

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'facile'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to facile, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Facile.
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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - let, let tilgængelig, letflydende, behændig, eftergivende

Nederlands (Dutch)
makkelijk, zelfverzekerd, oppervlakkig

Français (French)
adj. - spécieux, facile, superficiel

Deutsch (German)
adj. - leicht, gewandt

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - εύκολος, ευχερής, άνετος

Italiano (Italian)
facile, frivolo

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - fácil, superficial, hábil

Русский (Russian)
поверхностный, легкий, покладистый

Español (Spanish)
adj. - fácil, sencillo, superficial, poco profundo

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - lättvindig, flyhänt, lättsam

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
温和的, 灵巧的, 容易的

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 溫和的, 靈巧的, 容易的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 쉬운, 유순한, 편안한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 容易な, すらすら動く, 軽妙な, 器用な, 安易な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) هين , رشيق , بارع‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮קל, מהיר, נעים, נוח, שטחי, קליל‬


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