supple

B

betulina

Senior Member
al bressol del basquetbol
català - Catalunya
Hi,

According to the definition in dictionaries, supple, when applied to someone's personality, means "adaptable, flexible". To me it has a sense of approval, but I found it in the description of a politician and it says:

"He struck me as a supple and unscrupulous politician of a kind often found in Latin countries and quite the opposite of his predecessor, who was a straightforward and venerable Catalan full of ideals."

It doesn't look like a very favourable opinion, particularly together with "unscrupulous". Does "supple" have a negative connotation for you?

Thank you!
 
    • I only identify supple to mean someone like a ballerina who is able to stretch far. I generally would not use the word supple to describe a person.
    However the politician you describe does sound like someone who is more open to ideas than his predecessor but is not neccessarily as moral. I am not completely certain though, sorry.
     
    Thank you for the answer. :)

    I forgot to say that this is a statement by the British Ambassador in Spain in the 30s about a Catalan politician. He didn't really like him. Maybe the use of this word, "supple", is strange now in this sense.

    Thank you.
     
    "He struck me as a supple and unscrupulous politician of a kind often found in Latin countries and quite the opposite of his predecessor, who was a straightforward and venerable Catalan full of ideals."
    Click to expand...

    I understand this use of supple as "compliant or yielding". It implies that the politician was easily open to corruption, ready to fall in with "bad" suggestions made by others.

    LRV
     
    betulina said:
    Hi,

    According to the definition in dictionaries, supple, when applied to someone's personality, means "adaptable, flexible". To me it has a sense of approval, but I found it in the description of a politician and it says:

    "He struck me as a supple and unscrupulous politician of a kind often found in Latin countries and quite the opposite of his predecessor, who was a straightforward and venerable Catalan full of ideals."

    It doesn't look like a very favourable opinion, particularly together with "unscrupulous". Does "supple" have a negative connotation for you?

    Thank you!
    Click to expand...

    According to your passage, here "supple" is sharply contrasted with "straightforward." Therefore, my wildest guess is that it connotes "flexible or adaptable in a cunning crooked sense/way."
     
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