facile
adjective
T. S. Eliot 
Did you know?
Facile comes from the Latin facilis, meaning "easy," and facere, "to make or do." The adjective can mean "easy" or "easily done," as befits its Latin roots, but it now often adds the meaning of undue haste or shallowness, as in "facile answers to complex questions."
Synonyms
- one-dimensional
- shallow
- skin-deep
- superficial
Example Sentences
Francine Prose, The Lives of the Muses, 2002 Melville shrank from atheism, and from all facile theisms. John Updike, Hugging the Shore, (1983) 1984 … I saw that my old enemy was dead, Amy [Lowell], noble Amy. How I despised myself then for my facile self-pity and for my failure to die—how she seemed to have worsted me once again. Conrad Aiken 14 May 1925, in Selected Letters of Conrad Aiken, 1978 This problem needs more than just a facile solution. He is a wonderfully facile writer. Sonaiya Kelley, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2022 But Ligon is too subtle and grown-up to be making facile propaganda statements. Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 28 July 2022 Chef Michael Fusano, out of Southern California, has a facile hand with various techniques, which means his cheese-rich gougères ($10) puffed up, crisp and oozing a Comté espuma are irresistible. John Mariani, Forbes, 25 July 2022 But the Kings, especially Robert, bridled at creators who adopted more facile strategies—blandly inclusive casting and writing designed to uplift rather than to interrogate. Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker, 13 June 2022 The brief’s argument that FIFRA does not expressly preempt state-law liability claims is a straight rehash of the Ninth Circuit’s flawed, facile reasoning in Hardeman. Glenn G. Lammi, Forbes, 1 June 2022 In a lecturous speech delivered Thursday at Stanford University, the 44th president succeeded in the facile task of diagnosing the cause and effect of our poisonous social media ecosystem. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2022 Until then, the musical, a facile, satirical stage treatment of a far better movie, bounces from one insincere interlude to the next, doling out bits of exposition without establishing any compelling rationale to feel for its characters. Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2022 Biden more than anyone should realize that the facile belief that Donald Trump or other Republicans had it within their power to shut down the pandemic at any point was partisan opportunism and tripe. Rich Lowry, National Review, 24 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin facilis "easy, accommodating, nimble," from fac-, stem of facere "to make, bring about, perform, do" + -ilis -ile entry 1 — more at fact
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)
facile
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- superficial
- shallow
- one-dimensional
- cursory
- oversimple
- hasty
- skin-deep
- sketchy
- haphazard
- limited
- aimless
- desultory
- passing
- random
- narrow
- restricted
- hit-or-miss
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- profound
- broad
- deep
- extensive
- definitive
- general
- complete
- penetrating
- comprehensive
- hard
- wide
- exhaustive
- discerning
- detailed
- critical
- inclusive
- global
- penetrant
- far-reaching
- in-depth
Synonyms & Similar Words
- easy
- simple
- smooth
- cheap
- quick
- straightforward
- effortless
- ready
- painless
- fluent
- snap
- downhill
- fluid
- light
- soft
- uncomplicated
- royal
- obvious
- mindless
- unchallenging
- unambiguous
- hands-down
- apparent
- clear
- plain
- evident
- transparent
- unequivocal
- idiotproof
- perspicuous
- distinct
- manifest
- unmistakable
- open-and-shut
- patent
- clear-cut
- palpable
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- difficult
- laborious
- arduous
- hard
- formidable
- strenuous
- tough
- severe
- exacting
- stiff
- toilsome
- rough
- demanding
- murderous
- killer
- herculean
- grueling
- complex
- troublesome
- painful
- onerous
- complicated
- burdensome
- intricate
- labored
- exhausting
- recondite
- gruelling
- oppressive
- abstruse
- problematic
- stressful
- problematical
- toilful
- taxing
- involved
- knotty
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of facile are easy, effortless, light, simple, and smooth. While all these words mean "not demanding effort or involving difficulty," facile often adds to easy the connotation of undue haste or shallowness.
The words easy and facile can be used in similar contexts, but easy is applicable either to persons or things imposing tasks or to activity required by such tasks.
While the synonyms effortless and facile are close in meaning, effortless stresses the appearance of ease and usually implies the prior attainment of artistry or expertness.
The synonyms light and facile are sometimes interchangeable, but light stresses freedom from what is burdensome.
The meanings of simple and facile largely overlap; however, simple stresses ease in understanding or dealing with because complication is absent.
In some situations, the words smooth and facile are roughly equivalent. However, smooth stresses the absence or removal of all difficulties, hardships, or obstacles.