resilience
Americannoun
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the power or ability of a material to return to its original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.
-
the ability of a person to adjust to or recover readily from illness, adversity, major life changes, etc.; buoyancy.
-
the ability of a system or organization to respond to or recover readily from a crisis, disruptive process, etc..
Cities can build resilience to climate change by investing in infrastructure.
Other Word Forms
- nonresilience noun
- nonresiliency noun
Etymology
Origin of resilience
First recorded in 1620–30; resili(ent) + -ence
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But all the Israelis AFP spoke to expressed resilience, saying that seeking cover from missile attacks was something that they had grown used to.
From Barron's
The pair first travelled to The Hanging Gardens in Llanidloes, a community project focused on resilience and creativity, before going on to visit an art gallery in Newtown.
From BBC
Canada’s economy shrank as it closed out 2025, yet still managed to show resilience against the U.S. administration’s protectionist shift.
"It also shows how urgently we need to build resilience so these birds can withstand unpredictable shocks," Thompson added.
From BBC
He added that the company is “managing this environment in real time, applying lessons learned from prior cycles to improve resilience and to strengthen our position.”
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
