facile
/ˈfæs.əl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.61 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Effortless, fluent (of work, abilities etc.).
adj
Lazy, simplistic, superficial (especially of explanations, discussions etc.).
adj
Of a reaction or other process, taking place readily.
Example Sentences
- "[…] as he that is benummed with cold, sits still shaking, that might relieve himselfe with a little exercise or stirring, doe they complaine, but will not use the facile and ready meanes to doe themselves good; […]"
- "His facile disposition made him many friends."
- "Her writing was facile and articulate."
- "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."
- "The centenary of Bradshaw has proved further scope in the railway field for his facile pen to be devoted to an officially-sponsored work, and the "most famous guide in the world" is fortunate in its choice of a biographer."
- ""Discipline," Jorge Julio Saavedra was repeating, "is more necessary to me than to other more facile writers."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French facile, from Latin facilis (“easy to do, easy, doable”), from Latin facere (“to do, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do, put”) Compare Spanish and Portuguese fácil (“easy”), Catalan fàcil, Romanian facil. First use appears c. 1484 in a translation by William Caxton.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰeh₁-, facile, facilis, faciō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfæs.əl/
- British English: /ˈfæs.aɪl/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more facile (comparative)
most facile (superlative)