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
  1. adjective
    not tractable; difficult to manage or mold
    “an intractable disposition”
    “intractable pain”
    “the most intractable issue of our era”
    “intractable metal”
    Synonyms:
    defiant, noncompliant
    boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    difficult, unmanageable
    hard to control
    disobedient
    not obeying or complying with commands of those in authority
    obstinate, stubborn, unregenerate
    tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield
    untamed, wild
    in a natural state; not tamed or domesticated or cultivated
    balking, balky
    stopping short and refusing to go on
    refractory, stubborn
    not responding to treatment
    uncontrollable, unmanageable
    difficult to solve or alleviate
    unmalleable
    difficult or impossible to shape or work
    see moresee less
    Antonyms:
    manipulable, tractable
    easily managed (controlled or taught or molded)
    compliant
    disposed or willing to comply
    manageable
    capable of being managed or controlled
    obedient
    dutifully complying with the commands or instructions of those in authority
    docile
    willing to be taught or led or supervised or directed
    tame, tamed
    brought from wildness into a domesticated state
    ductile, malleable
    easily influenced
    docile, educable, teachable
    ready and willing to be taught
    tamable, tameable
    capable of being tamed
    show more antonyms...
Word Family
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