I. ˈēzē, -zi adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English esy, from Old French aaisié (past participle of aaisier to ease) & aisié (past participle of aisier to ease) — more at ease II
1. : causing, exacting, or involving little difficulty, exertion, hardship, or discomfort to execute or cope with : performed, accomplished, achieved, solved, coped with, taken, acted on, or cared for with ready ease
it was easy to sit on a camel's back without falling off but very difficult to get the best out of her — T.E.Lawrence
ritual is not easy compliance with detailed and punctilious rule — W.G.Sumner
an easy victim … of this good-natured diplomatist — W.M.Thackeray
feeding this outfit would have been easy for an old hand — American Guide Series: Arizona
the St. Lawrence route is … easy of navigation — B.K.Sandwell
2.
a. : not severe, not stern, not harsh : readily assuaged or placated : mild , lenient , complaisant
you are … so easy that every servant will cheat you — Jane Austen
we really ought to be easy on him because everybody makes mistakes — V.G.Heiser
b. : marked by gentle gradual change or variation making for ease in traversing or following : not steep, not abrupt, not sharp
this is the easy country of the pass where the stream flows gently — Ernest Hemingway
terraced steps rise in easy flights — American Guide Series: Michigan
a pleasant easy angle — Richard Jefferies
c. : marked by ease and convenience in going from one place to another usually by short distances at a time
brought him back by easy stages — Willa Cather
d. : not difficult to endure or undergo : not burdensome or onerous : complied with or fulfilled without marked discomfort
an easy penalty
an easy contract
William Pitt … condemned the Peace of Paris as too easy — Stringfellow Barr
e. : readily prevailed on : overcome without difficulty: as
(1) : yielding quickly to sexual importunities
women of the easy kind, the lusty kind, the ardent and the impudent — T.H.Raddall
(2) : not difficult to trick, deceive, or take advantage of
fell an easy prey to her wiles
(3) : especially susceptible (as to disease or predation)
in winter upland game birds are easy victims to predators where cover is poor
exhausted by overwork he was an easy victim to infection
f.
(1) : obtained or obtainable with ease : not involving especial effort, inconvenience, or anguish
he won an easy victory
(2) of money, credit, or commodities : available in such large quantities that interest rates or prices are depressed
farmers generally want easier money
the hog market has been irregular and easy for several days
— compare easy-money
g. : clear and without complexity or difficulty : very readily understood although often without challenge or reward
easy language — no strain upon either adult or youthful reader — J.D.Hart
3.
a. : marked by ease, by peace, comfort, and placid rest
retired and living an easy life
the easy warmth of most southern cities — Green Peyton
b. : not hurried, not ruffled, not strenuous : marked by or suited to placid calm or mild, slow, or gentle activity
an easy walk through the meadow
the easy climate of the island
a stretch of easy water — C.S.Forester
4.
a. : free from pain, distress, annoyance, discomfort
the patient was easier after the sedative
b. : marked by social ease : constituting or facilitating ready natural sociability : calm, smooth, and without restraint, formality, embarrassment, or harshness
easy and familiar manners of men who had worked for years together — Sir Winston Churchill
the easy carriage of a man born to a dignified place in life — Jack London
c. : marked by or arising from a complaisant desire for ease or by an attitude of careless casual acquiescence : showing a disinclination to energetic individual action or resolute independent thought
his easy disposition made him fall in unresistingly with the family courses — George Eliot
the easy , irreligious gay society which jumped the life to come — H.O.Taylor
d. : free from mental or emotional agitation : unruffled and not harassed by discontent, anxiety, doubt, or fear : tranquil
an easy and dignified calm, far removed from the intensity of life — Thomas Hardy
men who fish for a living must have an easy courage — Mary H. Vorse
e. : enjoying or showing comfortable assured tranquility about money and expenses : rich enough for comfort or luxury
he married an heiress and found himself in easy circumstances — Times Literary Supplement
f. : marked by ready facility at smooth composition or performance without labored effort : effortless
he wrote in an easy , rapid, flowing style — H.S.Robinson
g. : felt, experienced, or attained to readily, naturally, and spontaneously without guided or forced effort : not conscious, purposive, or factitious
an easy familiarity with his subject
easy emotions
h. : no less than — used with the indefinite article and terms denoting quantity (as of years of age)
looking an easy 35 in the harsh light
an easy two hours' work
weighs an easy 200
5.
a. : conducive to or facilitating ease, comfort, relaxation, or surcease from discomfort, inconvenience, or vexation
easy furniture
an easy arrangement of the room
b.
(1) : supportable with ease : not onerous or burdensome
got very easy terms from his creditors
(2) of payments : designed to be made in installments over a period of time and from regular income
furnished his house on an easy-payment plan
c. of a garment : fitting comfortably with due allowance for motion of the body : not tight or constricting
an easy shoe
an easy fit
6.
a. : evenly divided — used of the aces in a no-trump contract in auction bridge when each partnership holds two
b. Australia : willing to consider or participate but not enthusiastic
Synonyms:
facile , simple , light , effortless , smooth : easy applies to persons and to things making demands answerable without much effort or difficulty
he found his studies too easy to require serious attention, and, being very large and strong, he devoted his energies to athletics — E.S.Bates
the English owe more to their national home than do most nations. Its insular situation made it readily accessible in time of peace and easy to defend in time of war — Kemp Malone
facile , sometimes a close synonym of easy , now applies to execution, accomplishment, or performance seemingly without effort or with very little effort; sometimes it is derogatory in implying undue haste or careless execution
full of facile theories, with glib explanations of everything — Bertrand Russell
Chrétien is a facile narrator, with little sense of the significance that might be given to the stories — H.O.Taylor
simple stresses ease in comprehending and freedom from complexity or intricacy
feeding this outfit would have been easy for an old hand, but it was far from simple to me — American Guide Series: Arizona
the English mother or the English nurse has a simpler job. She must teach her charge to start as few fights as possible and that there are rules. That is enough — Margaret Mead
light involves freedom from the onerous or burdensome
college teaching job — preferably where your formal duties are as light as you can decently make them — W.G.Carleton
it was no light thing to encounter the rage and despair of fifty thousand fighting men — T.B.Macaulay
effortless suggests appearance of ease and often implies perfected artistry or mastery
so that attention became concentration, and concentration became at first effortless, then involuntary — Charles Morgan
that effortless grace with which only a true poet can endow his work — Martha O. Smith
smooth suggests absence of obstacles, hindrances, unevenness, interruptions
the smooth advance of the German Army into France in 1940 — S.L.A.Marshall
by the time he had warmed up his motors, the sky had cleared and it was day. The takeoff was smooth as cream — John Dos Passos
Synonym: see in addition comfortable .
II. adverb
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English esy, from esy, adjective
1. : easily
easy come, easy go
take it easy
my boots went on easy
2. : without undue speed : slowly
go easy here, the road is very rough
worked easy until his muscles loosened up
: without undue excitement — often used interjectionally to suggest proceeding with caution
easy , the road's washed out just ahead
or calming down
easy , there's nothing to be afraid of now
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: easy (I)
: ease
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: easy (II)
intransitive verb
: to stop rowing
the crew easied on approaching the dock
— often used as a command, sometimes with all
easy all
transitive verb
: to command (an oarsman or crew) to stop rowing
V.
Usage: usually capitalized
— a communications code word for the letter e