What does resilience mean?
Word: Resilience
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Resilience means the ability to recover quickly after difficulties, or to spring back into shape after being bent or pressed.
Synonyms: grit
How do you spell resilience?
Syllables: re - sil - i - ence
Tricky part: The ending is ence, as in science and audience, not ance: resiliance is the commonest slip.
Watch out for: resiliance, resiliense
Memory tip: Think of the science of bouncing back: science and resilience end the same way, with ence.
Resilience in a sentence
Example 1: Her resilience after a knee injury inspired the whole hockey team.
Example 2: Building resilience is part of growing up.
Example 3: The old banyan's resilience amazed us: it was green again a month after the storm.
Fun Fact
Engineers use resilience for how much energy a material such as steel can absorb and give back without being bent out of shape for good.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The village cricket team showed great resillience, fighting back from three early wickets to win the district final by two runs.
a) district
b) wickets
c) village
d) resillience
Show answer
d) resillience. There is only one l, as in silent.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word resilience as used in the sentence:
The resilience of mangrove forests helps them recover quickly after high tides and storms.
a) strength
b) toughness
c) fragility
d) hardiness
Show answer
c) fragility. Fragility means being easily broken or damaged, the opposite of resilience; the other three are close in meaning.
Mingle-Mangle
Which word do the jumbled letters in the sentence spell?
Mountain villagers are known for their nicseielre through long, harsh winters.
a) residence
b) reliance
c) resilience
d) silence
Show answer
c) resilience. Residence needs a d, reliance an a, and silence is too short; the ten letters spell resilience.
Spell-o-Spell
Find the one correctly spelt word and choose what it means.
1. resilience 2. determinaton 3. paitence 4. corage
a) the quality of not giving up
b) the ability to face something hard without fear
c) the power to bounce back after a setback
d) the ability to wait calmly
Show answer
c) the power to bounce back after a setback. Determination ends in ation, courage has a u after the o, and patience has ie after the t.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An object that shows resilience is ____.
a) a stick of chalk that crumbles when pressed
b) a glass that shatters when it is dropped
c) a bamboo stem that bends and springs back
d) a block of ice that melts in the sun
Show answer
c) a bamboo stem that bends and springs back
2. After a poor exam result, a resilient student will ____.
a) blame the question paper
b) hide the report card
c) give up the subject
d) study harder and try again
Show answer
d) study harder and try again
