What does resilience mean?
Resilience is the capacity to withstand difficulty and recover quickly from stress, adversity, disruption, or change. It is commonly used to describe people who persist despite setbacks, communities that maintain their cohesion in difficult circumstances, and systems or materials that continue functioning under pressure. The word does not necessarily mean that something is untouched by difficulty; rather, it emphasizes the ability to adapt, endure, and return to a stable condition. Resilience is also used technically for the tendency of a material or structure to recover its original shape after being stressed. In everyday and professional contexts, the term is especially useful when describing the strength and adaptability of individuals or organizations facing uncertainty. It can carry a positive connotation, although in discussions of systems it may also identify a capacity that has been deliberately designed or developed.
nounThe capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties, stress, hardship, or change. Resilience can refer to a person, community, system, or material.
- The capacity to withstand, adapt to, or recover quickly from difficulties, stress, hardship, or change.
- The ability of a material or system to return to its original form or function after being subjected to stress, strain, or disruption.
"The resilience of the small community helped it recover after the devastating storm."
"Her resilience helped her continue writing despite months of rejection."
"Engineers tested the material's resilience by repeatedly applying stress to it."
Rare; resilience is normally used as an uncountable noun.
"The study compared the resiliences of several regional ecosystems."
Resilience is not the absence of difficulty; it is the ability to recover when difficulty arrives.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does resilience come from?
Resilience derives from the Latin verb resilire, meaning 'to leap back' or 'to withdraw.' The English noun developed in the seventeenth century from the Latin stem associated with that word. The related adjective resilient and adverb resiliently share the same root, reflecting the idea of springing back after pressure or disturbance.
Related word forms
How resilience is actually used
Resilience is generally formal or neutral in tone and is used for people, organizations, communities, systems, and materials. In personal contexts, it often implies adaptation and recovery rather than simply being unaffected by difficulty.
Easily confused with resilience
Resilience is the ability to recover from difficulty, whereas resistance is the ability to withstand or oppose a particular pressure or influence.