A lump of soft grey paste in your hand. While you hold it, it takes the shape of your thumb without any resistance at all; a few hours later it has set hard and keeps whatever shape it was given. Everything this word does comes out of those two states, and out of the fact that the hand decides which shape it ends up with.
Borrowed from French potee, originally the contents of a pot and later a polishing powder, from French pot. So the word starts out naming a pot's worth of prepared stuff, which fits a material you mix and then work by hand.
這個字借自法文 potée，本來的意思是「一鍋的量」，後來指拋光用的粉；再往前就是 pot（鍋）。可以想成：從鍋裡調出來、整團拿來用的東西——正好對上一種要先調好、再用手抹開的材料。
Wiktionary entry for putty (kaikki extract supplied in this packet): Borrowed from French potee (polishing powder, originally the contents of a pot, potful), from French pot.
From the picture
軟到任人捏：說人的時候
這一家只取核心畫面的前半段——還沒乾的那個狀態。重點不是「軟」本身，而是「形狀由別人的手決定」。把這個畫面放到人身上，就成了：在某個人面前完全沒有抵抗力，對方說什麼就是什麼。
noun · C1
If someone is putty in another person's hands, that person can shape what they do and say very easily, and they will agree to almost anything that person asks.
任人擺布
noun · B2
A soft grey-white paste used in building work. You press it into place with your fingers or a flat knife and it slowly dries hard — most often to hold a pane of glass in a window frame, or to fill a small hole before painting.
油灰／補土
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Puttyname
A locality in the Hawkesbury council area and the Singleton council area, eastern New South Wales, Australia.
puttynoun詞源 1/ˈpʌti/
A form of cement, made from linseed oil and whiting, used to fixate panes of glass.
Any of a range of similar substances.
Any of a range of similar substances.
golfhobbieslifestyleA golf ball made of composition and not gutta-percha.
puttyadj詞源 1/ˈpʌti/
Of, pertaining to, or resembling putty.
puttyverb詞源 1/ˈpʌti/
To fix or fill using putty.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。