1
as in superficial
having or showing a lack of depth of understanding or character
the movie takes a facile look at what happens when teens enter into serious romantic relationships
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in easy
involving minimal difficulty or effort
a few early facile victories misled the country into thinking that the war would be short and relatively painless
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of facile
Demonizing the delta smelt was — and is — a way to make facile points to uninformed voters by suggesting that the interests of what appears to be an unimportant fish are somehow elevated above those of human residents.
—
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2025
Coppola’s emphasis on white protagonist Cesar is, in Hollywood liberal terms, facile and archaic.
—Armond White, National Review, 4 Oct. 2024
The benefit of all of this, of course, is a shift toward recognizing, at least in the zeitgeist, the seemingly facile truth: that moms have identities and desires beyond being moms.
—Cady Lang, TIME, 24 May 2024
The commentary on social media is mostly facile, although a humiliating trick played on Nikki is devilishly funny and some of the flashback-recap sequences make zippy use of online video.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for facile
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2025
Coppola’s emphasis on white protagonist Cesar is, in Hollywood liberal terms, facile and archaic.
—Armond White, National Review, 4 Oct. 2024
The benefit of all of this, of course, is a shift toward recognizing, at least in the zeitgeist, the seemingly facile truth: that moms have identities and desires beyond being moms.
—Cady Lang, TIME, 24 May 2024
The commentary on social media is mostly facile, although a humiliating trick played on Nikki is devilishly funny and some of the flashback-recap sequences make zippy use of online video.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for facile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for facile
Adjective
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The damage looked superficial, while the rider himself was laid-back.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
26 July 2025
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Unfortunately, many of these individuals are disillusioned with the traditional path and are enticed by the allure of fast money, luxurious lifestyles, and superficial beauty without any effort or hard work.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 July 2025
Adjective
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Turning the tradition of home hair braiding into one without pain, the culture of Black hair can finally be easy.—
Essence,
Essence,
31 July 2025
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Hosta is easy to grow and tolerates some challenging sites such as heavy shade and nearby black walnut trees.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
31 July 2025
Adjective
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Tsunami Risks With a relatively shallow depth of 20.7 km (13 miles), the earthquake on Wednesday, July 30 was always going to create such tsunami risks, experts said.—
David Stanway,
USA Today,
30 July 2025
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Deformation of the Okhotsk microplate generates shallow crustal earthquakes within 20 kilometers, while slip at the subduction zone interface between the Pacific and North America plates generates megathrust earthquakes that extend to depths of 40 to 60 kilometers.—
David Bressan,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
Adjective
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Looking for their environmental DNA in scales, slime or skin cells that living beings shed all the time is a simpler way, Workman said.—
Madeline Heim,
jsonline.com,
24 July 2025
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This involves flexible decision making beyond simple automation.—
Ian Gotts,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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Skylar Diggins, known for hitting the tunnel in something sharp, diagonal, and pointed, switches it up this time, opting for something smooth, slouched, and low-hanging.—
Tiana Randall,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
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There’s a dash of lemon zest and a wispy umami base to this beer, which is smooth and clean from start to dry finish.—
Peter Rowe,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Xfinity offers some of the cheapest plans available in Nashville, but prices may go up once the promotional period ends.—
Kara McGinley,
USA Today,
1 Aug. 2025
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The 996 also felt cheap inside, borrowing interior trim from the Boxster—hardly fitting for a car with a base MSRP of $65,000 at the time.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
1 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Facile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/facile. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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