facile

[fas-il or, esp. British, -ahyl] /ˈfæs ɪl or, esp. British, -aɪl/

adjective

moving, acting, working, proceeding, etc., with ease, sometimes with superficiality:

facile fingers; a facile mind.

easily done, performed, used, etc.:

a facile victory; a facile method.

easy or unconstrained, as manners or persons.

affable, agreeable, or complaisant; easily influenced:

a facile temperament; facile people.

Origin

1475-85; < Latin facilis that can be done, easy, equivalent to fac(ere) to do, make + -ilis -ile

Related forms

facilely, adverb

facileness, noun

overfacile, adjective

overfacilely, adverb

unfacile, adjective

unfacilely, adverb

Can be confused

facile, facilitate, facility, felicitate.

Synonyms

1. smooth, flowing, fluent; glib. 2. superficial. 3. bland, suave; urbane.

facile princeps

[fah-ki-le pring-keps; English fas-uh-lee prin-seps] /ˈfɑ kɪˌlɛ ˈprɪŋ kɛps; English ˈfæs ə li ˈprɪn sɛps/

Latin.

easily the first or best.

Examples from the web for facile

The facts that they argue about are those for which they have easy, perhaps even facile, answers for.
Genetic explanations for this sort of behavior are often facile.
It's much fuller, much richer, and much more facile.
Her way of thinking which is highly visual and extraordinarily facile and detailed.
But so, too, will readers who find the blogosphere facile or lazy.
But it's disingenuous and a little facile to jump on him about this thing.
Yet it would be facile to say for certain that economic or political policy has thus moved to the right.
By the time a suitable job emerges, younger more facile and recently graduated will be entering the workforce.
Perhaps younger minds are more facile at solving puzzles.
If there were ever a time to move beyond our dangerously facile debate about cosmetic surgery, it's now.

British Dictionary definitions for facile

facile

/ˈfæsaɪl/

adjective

easy to perform or achieve

working or moving easily or smoothly

without depth; superficial: a facile solution

(archaic) relaxed in manner; easygoing

Derived Forms

facilely, adverb
facileness, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Latin facilis easy, from facere to do

facile princeps

/ˈfæsɪlɪ ˈprɪnsɛps/

noun

an obvious leader

Word Origin

literally: easily first

Contemporary definitions for facile

adjective

easily accomplished or attained; easy

Word Origin

Latin facilis 'easy to do'

adjective

flowing; moving effortlessly

Word Origin

Latin facilis 'easy to do'

adjective

affable and courteous; mild

Word Origin

Latin facilis 'easy to do'

adjective

compliant, yielding; docile

Word Origin

Latin facilis 'easy to do'

adjective

resourceful, quick; expert

Word Origin

Latin facilis 'easy to do'

Word Origin and History for facile

adj.

late 15c., from Middle French facile "easy," from Latin facilis "easy to do" and, of persons, "pliant, courteous," from facere "to do" (see factitious).

facile princeps

Latin, literally "easily first." An acknowledged leader or chief.

facile in Technology

language
A concurrent extension of ML from ECRC.
(https://ecrc.de/facile/facile_home.html).
["Facile: A Symmetric Integration of Concurrent and Functional Programming", A. Giacalone et al, Intl J Parallel Prog 18(2):121-160, Apr 1989].
(1994-12-01)