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resilience

ri-ZIL-yunss /rɪˈzɪliəns/

nounB2IELTSTOEFLGRE

generalprofessional

The capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties; toughness or elasticity.

Implies bouncing back after strain or trauma, transforming adversity into adaptation.

The story behind the word. Latin 'resilire' paired 're-' (back) with 'salire' (to jump or leap). Originally used in physical mechanics to describe how compressed springs or rubber materials bounce back to their natural form, English writers in the 19th century adopted it to describe humans who rebound after misfortune.

Word relationships

elasticity: Elasticity is a physical material property; resilience applies both to materials and psychological recovery.
hardiness: Hardiness is the ability to endure stress without injury; resilience adds the ability to rebound quickly.

fragility: Fragility is the vulnerability to breaking easily when subjected to pressure.
vulnerability: Vulnerability is susceptibility to harm or emotional damage.

Commonly confused with

resistance: Resistance is opposing force directly; resilience is absorbing shock and springing back into shape.

Word family

resilient (adjective): Able to recoil or spring back into shape; able to withstand trauma.
resiliently (adverb): In a resilient manner.

Collocations

demonstrate resilience
build resilience
economic resilience
remarkable resilience

Idioms & expressions

bounce back
weather the storm

Example sentences

"Psychological resilience enables individuals to bend under severe pressure without snapping." Psychological analysis of trauma recovery
"The extraordinary resilience of small businesses saved the local economy during the prolonged downturn." Economic recovery report

Memory hook

Think 'RE-SALIRE'—leaping back into shape after being squeezed. Leaping back after the fall.

When not to use

Do not confuse with rigid resistance; resilience involves flexible recovery rather than unbending hardness.

Fun facts

In material science, 'resilience' is measured precisely as the maximum energy per unit volume that can be absorbed without permanent deformation.