from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Facile \Fac"ile\a. [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.
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Order . . . will render the work facile and
delightful. --Evelyn.
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2. Easy to be surmounted or removed; easily conquerable;
readily mastered.
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The facile gates of hell too slightly barred.
--Milton.
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3. Easy of access or converse; mild; courteous; not haughty,
austere, or distant; affable; complaisant.
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I meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet. --B.
Jonson.
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4. Easily persuaded to good or bad; yielding; ductile to a
fault; pliant; flexible.
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Since Adam, and his facile consort Eve,
Lost Paradise, deceived by me. --Milton.
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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.
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5. Ready; quick; expert; as, he is facile in expedients; he
wields a facile pen. -- {Fac"ile*ly}, adv. --
{Fac"ile*ness}, n.
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