bouncebackability meaning (informal): definition

bouncebackability

noun

UK /ˌbaʊnsbækəˈbɪlɪti/ · US /ˌbaʊnsˌbækəˈbɪlɪti/

Etymology From bounce back (“to recover from bad circumstances”) + -ability (suffix forming nouns indicating an ability, inclination, or suitability for a specified condition or function). Suggestions that the word was coined in 2004 by Iain Dowie (born 1965), then manager of Crystal Palace Football Club, are inaccurate as the Oxford English Dictionary records a quotation dating back to 1972, but Dowie’s use of the word may have caused it to gain in popularity.

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Informal, Often The ability to bounce back or recover from bad circumstances.

You are able to play the game and to take the wins and losses in your stride. When the losses become too numerous, you will have some "bounce-back" ability and will try again rather than give up or become discouraged.[1962, Luella Josephine Morison, Mary Agnes Farris, Approaches for Co-workers in Professional Nursing, St. Louis, Mo.: C. V. Mosby Company, →OCLC, page 52, column 2:
[T]he best of today's furniture fillers, combining the bounce-back-ability of foam with the downy softness of fiber fill.[1972, The American Home, volume 75, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran, →OCLC, page 279, columns 2–3:

4 more examples

Mr. [Robert] Schuller, a believer in "bouncebackability," is a clone from the Norman Vincent Peale school of positive thinking.1982, Edmund Fawcett, Tony Thomas, The American Condition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 419:
If Mr Dinkins can persuade the unions that it is in their interest to do a deal with a frank friend now rather than an enemy later, New York will again demonstrate its bouncebackability.1991 October 5, The Economist, volume 321, London: Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20, column 2:
One of [Richard] Branson's enduring strengths is his ability to absorb punches, to take the rough with the smooth. He has bouncebackability – lots of it.2002, Des Dearlove, Business the Richard Branson Way: 10 Secrets of the World's Greatest Brand Builder (Big Shots), 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Capstone Publishing, →ISBN, page ix; 3rd edition, Chichester, West Sussex: Capstone Publishing, 2007, →ISBN, page xv:
When Everton were knocked out of the League Cup last week, their manager Mo Marley said: "This will be a great test of the famous Everton bouncebackability."2004 October 18, Paula Cocozza, “Everton’s ‘bouncebackability’ falls short”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Sep 2014:

Related terms: bounce back, bounceback, bouncebackable