Resilience

noun (uncountable)

/rɪˈzɪliəns/

The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, adapt positively in the face of adversity, and maintain functioning under stress. In individual ethics, resilience is the psychological analogue of fortitude — where fortitude is the virtue of facing adversity, resilience is the capacity to bounce back after it. In governance and disaster management, resilience refers to a system's ability to absorb shocks and reorganise: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) operationalises national resilience as a global priority, and India's National Disaster Management Plan (2019) is aligned to it.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The Sendai Framework (2015–2030) calls upon national governments to build the resilience of communities and nations by shifting from reactive disaster response to proactive risk reduction, investing in early-warning systems and climate-adaptive infrastructure.

Synonyms

adaptabilityrobustnessbuoyancytoughnesselasticityrecuperative capacity

Antonyms

fragilitybrittlenessvulnerabilityweaknesscollapse-proneness

🌱 Word Family

resilient (adjective), resiliently (adverb), non-resilience (noun), resilient (adjective)

🔡 Root

Latin resilire = to spring back; re- = back + salire = to jump, leap

📜 Etymology

From Latin resilire (to spring back, rebound), composed of re- (back) and salire (to jump). The word entered English in the 17th century in a physical sense — the property of a material (like rubber) to resume its original shape after deformation. The psychological and institutional meanings emerged in the 20th century through stress psychology (Emmy Werner's studies on resilient children, 1950s–70s) and were later applied to ecological and socio-technical systems.

🧠 Memory Hook

RE-SILI-ENCE: Think of a SLINKY — it bounces back no matter how it is compressed or stretched. RESILience comes from resilire = spring back. A resilient person is a human Slinky: life may push them down, but they spring back to shape.

📝 Seen in UPSC Question Papers

Prelims 2025 — Climate Change
Mains 2024 · GS3 · 15 marks — Disaster Management

Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Resilience” — proof this word earns its place on your list.

🧭 Ethics & Integrity 📖 Seen in: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude — Complet...

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