facile

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 fácil (“easy”). First use appears c. 1484 in a translation by William Caxton.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: făsʹīl IPA^(key): /ˈfæs.aɪl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) enPR: făʹsəl IPA^(key): /ˈfæs.əl/, [ˈfæs.ɫ̩]

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈfä.sʌɪl/
• Rhymes: -æsəl
• Hyphenation: fac‧ile

Adjective

facile (comparative more facile, superlative most facile)

1. (now usually derogatory) Easy; contemptibly easy. [from 15th c.]
   • 1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, page 85:

     […] 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; […]

2. (now rare) Amiable, flexible, easy to get along with. [from 16th c.]

   His facile disposition made him many friends.

3. Effortless, fluent (of work, abilities etc.). [from 17th c.]

   Her writing was facile and articulate.

   • 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, published 2010, page 54:

     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.

   • 1940 July, “Railway Literature: The History of Bradshaw. By G. Royde Smith. London: Henry Blacklock & Co., Bradshaw House, Surrey Street, Strand, W.C.2; [...] 76pp. Illustrated. Price 3s. 6d. net.”, in Railway Magazine, page 432:

     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.

   • 1974, Graham Greene, The Honorary Consul, New York: Pocket Books, page 54:

     "Discipline," Jorge Julio Saavedra was repeating, "is more necessary to me than to other more facile writers.

   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 372:

     A facile and persuasive writer, he also turned out countless newspaper articles on Russian aims in Central Asia and how best these could be thwarted.

4. Lazy, simplistic, superficial (especially of explanations, discussions etc.). [from 19th c.]

   He arrived with a facile understanding of her works.

   • 2012 May 3, Chris Huhne, “It's green growth or nothing”, in The Guardian:

     There is a facile view that our green commitments – to tackling climate change, avoiding air and water pollution, protecting natural habitats – are an obstacle to growth. The message of the commodity markets is surely different.

5. (chemistry) Of a reaction or other process, taking place readily.

   Decarboxylation of beta-keto acids is facile.

Further reading

• “facile”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “facile”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “facile”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “facile”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• fecial

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [faˈt͡sile]
• Rhymes: -ile
• Hyphenation: fa‧ci‧le

• IPA^(key): /faˈtsi.le/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

facile

1. easily

   Antonym: malfacile

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin facilis (“easy”), from faciō (“to do, make”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa.sil/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Homophone: faciles
• Hyphenation: fa‧cile

Adjective

facile (plural faciles)

1. easy, simple

   Antonym: difficile (“difficult”)

   Il n’est pas facile de vivre avec le diabète. ― It is not easy to live with diabetes.

   Il est facile à comprendre. ― He is easy to understand.

   • 2020, “Couvre-feu : le désarroi des restaurateurs français”, in France 24‎:

     "Certes, ce n’est pas facile d’avoir 20 ans en 2020", concède Frank Delvau, reprenant l’expression utilisée par Emmanuel Macron, la veille.

     "Certainly, it's not easy to be twenty years old in 2020," Frank Delvau conceded, picking up the expression used by Emmanuel Macron the day before.

2. (derogatory, chiefly of women) easy, promiscuous (consenting readily to sex)

   une fille facile ― an easy lay, a trollop

Further reading

• “facile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• ficela

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faˈt͡sile/

Adverb

facile

1. easily

Adjective

facile (comparative plus facile, superlative le plus facile)

1. easy

   Antonym: difficile