resilient

resilient — adjective

1. A person or group that is resilient can deal well with difficult situations, sad

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

A person or group that is resilient can deal well with difficult situations, sadness, or failure and return to a normal, healthy state of mind and life.

Example

Roya showed a resilient spirit after losing her job and soon found a better position.

resilient spirit — common noun after resilient

The resilient children in the village continued their studies after the earthquake destroyed their school.

attributive: resilient + noun (children)

Common collocations
  • resilient spirit
  • resilient attitude
  • resilient community
  • emotionally resilient
  • remarkably resilient
  • proved resilient
Synonyms
  • tough

    emphasizes not breaking under pressure rather than recovering from it

  • strong

    broader term for having inner power; less specific about recovery

  • adaptable

    focuses on adjusting to change rather than bouncing back from hardship

Antonyms
  • fragile

    easily broken or damaged emotionally

  • vulnerable

    open to being hurt, with less ability to recover

Grammar Patterns

resilient + to + noun phrase

Usage Note

This sense is far more common in everyday conversation than the physical sense (sense 2). It typically describes people, communities, or groups rather than objects or materials.

Common Mistakes

She is very tough to criticism; it never affects her.
She is very resilient to criticism; she feels hurt but recovers quickly.
'Tough' means hard to damage, while 'resilient' means you recover after being affected.

2. An object or material that is resilient can be bent, pressed, or stretched and t

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

An object or material that is resilient can be bent, pressed, or stretched and then quickly go back to its previous size and shape without staying damaged.

Example

Resilient foam in a yoga mat returns to shape after you roll it up.

resilient foam — typical material collocation

Liang tested the resilient rubber band by stretching it to twice its normal length.

resilient rubber band — common noun

Common collocations
  • resilient material
  • resilient foam
  • resilient rubber
  • resilient to heat
  • highly resilient
  • remarkably resilient
Synonyms
  • elastic

    more specific to stretching; resilient also covers bending and pressing

  • springy

    less formal, emphasizes a lively bounce-back quality

  • flexible

    focuses on ability to bend, not necessarily to return to shape

Antonyms
  • brittle

    hard but breaks or cracks easily under pressure

  • rigid

    stiff and does not bend at all, so likely to break instead

  • stiff

    resists deformation but may crack rather than recover

Grammar Patterns

resilient + to + noun phrase

Usage Note

This sense is most often used in technical or scientific descriptions of materials. The subject is always a physical object, not a person. Common with 'to': resilient to heat, pressure, or impact.

Common Mistakes

This rubber band is very flexible; it goes back to its original size.
This rubber band is very resilient; it goes back to its original size.
'Flexible' means it bends easily, but 'resilient' specifically means it returns to its original shape after being deformed.

Word family

  • resilience
    nounB2
  • resiliently
    adverbC1
  • resiliency
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Resilient, tough, strong, and adaptable all describe someone who handles difficulty well, but they emphasize different angles. Tough suggests a person is hard to hurt in the first place — like a tough soldier who barely flinches under fire. Strong means having inner power to endure hardship — a strong leader stays calm during a crisis. Adaptable is about flexibility and willingness to change approach — an adaptable worker learns new skills when their industry shifts. Resilient uniquely focuses on the recovery itself: the person is affected by the hardship but springs back to a normal state. For example, a resilient athlete who loses a big match cries for an hour, then wakes up the next morning ready to train again.

resilient ↗tough ↗strong ↗adaptable

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • incredibly resilient
  • remarkably resilient
  • surprisingly resilient
  • highly resilient

Phrases

  • proved resilient
  • remained resilient

Prepositions

  • resilient to

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Resilient comes from the Latin word 'resilire', meaning 'to leap back' or 'to rebound'. This was formed by joining 're-' (back) and 'salire' (to leap). The word entered English in the mid-1600s, first used to describe physical objects that spring back to shape after pressure. By the 1800s, it had also taken on the psychological meaning of emotional recovery, which is now its most common use.