facile

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fac·ile

 (făs′əl)
adj.
1.
a. Done or achieved with little effort or difficulty; easy: a facile victory.
b. Working, acting, or done with ease and fluency: a facile writer; facile prose. See Synonyms at easy.
2. Arrived at or presented without due care, effort, or examination; superficial: We don't need another facile solution to a complex problem.
3. Archaic Pleasingly mild, as in disposition or manner.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin facilis; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]

fac′ile·ly adv.
fac′ile·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

facile

(ˈfæsaɪl)
adj
1. easy to perform or achieve
2. working or moving easily or smoothly
3. without depth; superficial: a facile solution.
4. archaic relaxed in manner; easygoing
[C15: from Latin facilis easy, from facere to do]
ˈfacilely adv
ˈfacileness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fac•ile

(ˈfæs ɪl; esp. Brit. -aɪl)

adj.
1. quick in comprehension or action: a facile mind.
2. superficial; shallow: a facile answer to a hard question.
3. easily accomplished or attained: a facile performance.
4. fluent; effortless: a facile writing style.
5. Archaic. easy or unconstrained, as manners or persons.
[1475–85; < Latin facilis easy =fac(ere) to make, do1 + -ilis -ile1]
fac′ile•ly, adv.
fac′ile•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.facile - arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth; "too facile a solution for so complex a problem"
superficial - concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually; "superficial similarities"; "a superficial mind"; "his thinking was superficial and fuzzy"; "superficial knowledge"; "the superficial report didn't give the true picture"; "only superficial differences"
2.facile - performing adroitly and without effort; "a facile hand"
effortless - requiring or apparently requiring no effort; "the swallows glided in an effortless way through the busy air"
3.facile - expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively; "able to dazzle with his facile tongue"; "silver speech"
articulate - expressing yourself easily or characterized by clear expressive language; "articulate speech"; "an articulate orator"; "articulate beings"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

facile

adjective
1. superficial, shallow, slick, glib, hasty, cursory I hated him making facile suggestions when I knew the problem was extremely complex.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

facile

adjective
1. Posing no difficulty:
Informal: snap.
2. Moving or performing quickly, lightly, and easily:
3. Characterized by ready but often insincere or superficial discourse:
4. Exhibiting or possessing skill and ease in performance:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

facile

[ˈfæsaɪl] ADJ [remark, expression] → superficial; [writer] → vulgar; [victory] → fácil
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

facile

[ˈfæsaɪl] adj [explanation, suggestion, solution] → simpliste
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

facile

adj (pej) person, mind, work of artoberflächlich; optimismblind; tasksimpel; questionvordergründig; comparison, answerbillig; solutionbillig, simpel; remarknichtssagend; styleflüssig; it is facile to suggest that…es lässt sich natürlich leicht sagen, dass …
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

facile

[ˈfæsaɪl] adj (gen) (pej) (remark, answer) → superficiale; (victory) → facile
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in periodicals archive ?
It is true, as Stephens facilely points out, that Palestinian citizens of Israel can serve in the Knesset, but he ignores the fact that they are subject to discrimination in housing, access to public transportation, health care, university admissions (there are specific areas of study they cannot enter), and are at the receiving end of over 50 laws that discriminate against them.
When, on July 16, 1997, Pierre Vallet facilely managed to elicit clean and clear, understandable French words from his student sopranos singing Debussy's Ariettes oubliees, I must tell you that I sat in the back row and felt tears in my eyes from the sheer joy of actually hearing French words articulated.
The present work demonstrated that the MWNT/Li-Soap compound can be facilely fabricated and uniformly integrated into an elastomer matrix using a new, versatile, and extremely simple approach based on latex technology.
We want to see your glory!" Like the disciples who asked Jesus where they should prepare for him to go through his Passover sacrifice, we facilely thank God for the eucharistic presence.
Wei, Facilely prepared inexpensive and biocompatible self-healing hydrogel: a new injectable cell therapy carrier, Polymer Chemistry 3(12) (2012) 3235-3238.
The third point I wish to consider is in some ways the darkest of all: "L'ombre d'Hitler," as Nattiez entitles chapter 15- the shade, or shadow, or ghost of Hitler, who was born (it helps to remind those who far too facilely find the foundations of the Fuhrer's furor in the Fach of his would-be forerunner) in 1889, some six years after Wagner's death.
Lecter has persuaded some characters of his civility but he has deceived them; he may prefer to kill rude people, but he slays others quite facilely.
Those who look back too facilely often have a commitment to what they think they know, making them insist on their presumed understanding.
The use of the term "Pole/Polish," especially when referring to ethnically Polish subjects living under various partitioning regimes during the long nineteenth century and their disparate agendas, can be equally reductive and misleading when it is not facilely synecdochal and deceitfully comforting qua (false) organic imagined unity.
Indeed, several plot turns are too facilely achieved.

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