# facile

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈfæs.aɪl/ · frequency rank #46,456

## Definitions
1. Easy; contemptibly easy.
2. Amiable, flexible, easy to get along with.
3. Effortless, fluent (of work, abilities etc.).
4. Lazy, simplistic, superficial (especially of explanations, discussions etc.).
5. Of a reaction or other process, taking place readily.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French facile, from Latin facilis (“easy to do, easy, doable”), from Latin facere (“to do, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do, put”) Compare Spanish fácil (“easy”). First use appears c. 1484 in a translation by William Caxton.

## Easily confused with
- **file** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-file)
- **fail** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-fail)
- **fails** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-fails)
- **family** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-family)
- **failed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-failed)
- **facing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-facing)
- **famine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-famine)
- **futile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-futile)
- **fickle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-fickle)
- **fragile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facile-vs-fragile)
- **face** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/face-vs-facile)
- **fable** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fable-vs-facile)
- **facie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facie-vs-facile)
- **facial** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facial-vs-facile)
- **facade** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/facade-vs-facile)

## Common misspellings (8)
`afcile`, `faccile`, `faciel`, `facille`, `faclie`, `faicle`, `fcaile`, `ffacile`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/facile