resilient |riˈzilyənt| adjective (of a substance or object) able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed. • (of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions: the fish are resilient to most infections.

DERIVATIVES resiliently adverb ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin resilient- ‘leaping back,’ from the verb resilire (see resile) .