intractable
Can't manage your stubborn little brother who won't do what anyone says? You could call him intractable, or you could call your mother. Problems are intractable when they can't be solved.
Intractable means not tractable. Helpful, right? No? Let's break it down. In both words you see the word tract. A contract is a written document that explains how a legal situation is to be managed together. When someone is tractable they are able to be managed or handled. When they are intractable, they are as unmanageable as a hungry two-year old.
Definitions of intractable
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not tractable; difficult to manage or mold“an intractable disposition”“intractable pain”“the most intractable issue of our era”“intractable metal”
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Synonyms:
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defiant, noncompliant
boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
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difficult, unmanageable
hard to control
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disobedient
not obeying or complying with commands of those in authority
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obstinate, stubborn, unregenerate
tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield
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untamed, wild
in a natural state; not tamed or domesticated or cultivated
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balking, balky
stopping short and refusing to go on
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refractory, stubborn
not responding to treatment
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uncontrollable, unmanageable
difficult to solve or alleviate
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unmalleable
difficult or impossible to shape or work
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Antonyms:
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manipulable, tractable
easily managed (controlled or taught or molded)
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compliant
disposed or willing to comply
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manageable
capable of being managed or controlled
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obedient
dutifully complying with the commands or instructions of those in authority
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docile
willing to be taught or led or supervised or directed
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tame, tamed
brought from wildness into a domesticated state
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ductile, malleable
easily influenced
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docile, educable, teachable
ready and willing to be taught
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tamable, tameable
capable of being tamed
- show more antonyms...
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defiant, noncompliant
Word Family
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