docile

doc·ile

adjective \ˈdä-səl also -ˌsī(-ə)l, especially British ˈdō-ˌsī(-ə)l\

Definition of DOCILE

1

: easily taught <a docile pupil>

2

: easily led or managed : tractable <a docile pony>

— doc·ile·ly \ˈdä-sə(l)-lē\ adverb

— do·cil·i·ty \dä-ˈsi-lə-tē, dō-\ noun

Examples of DOCILE

1. His students were docile and eager to learn.
2. <a docile young pony that went wherever it was led>
3. In the course of a single month, from Annie's arrival to her triumph in bridling the household despot, Helen [Keller] had grown docile, affectionate, and tirelessly intent on learning from moment to moment. —Cynthia Ozick, New Yorker, 16 & 23 June 2003
4. Africanized honeybees look like the European honeybees now commonly found in our gardens, and like their relatives, they make honey. They are fairly docile when they are foraging, but they defend their nests ferociously. —Lynn Ocone, Sunset, February 1994

Origin of DOCILE

Latin docilis, from docēre to teach; akin to Latin decēre to be fitting — more at decent

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to DOCILE

Synonyms

amenable, biddable, compliant, conformable, obedient, law-abiding, submissive, tractable

Antonyms

balky, contrary, contumacious, defiant, disobedient, froward, incompliant, insubordinate, intractable, noncompliant, obstreperous, rebel, rebellious, recalcitrant, refractory, restive, unamenable, ungovernable, unruly, untoward, wayward, willful (or wilful)

Related Words

acquiescent, agreeable, amiable, duteous, dutiful, obliging, placable; soft, surrendering, yielding; fawning, kowtowing, obeisant, obsequious, servile, slavish, subordinate, subservient; decorous, disciplined, mannerly, orderly; constrained, curbed, inhibited, repressed, restrained; controllable, disciplinable, governable, handleable, manageable, tame, teachable, tractable, trainable; gentle, meek, mild

Near Antonyms

insurgent, mutinous; dogged, hardheaded, headstrong, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, peevish, pigheaded, self-willed, stubborn, unyielding; uncontrollable, unmanageable, wild; balky, defiant, perverse, resistant; bad, disorderly, errant, misbehaving, mischievous, naughty; ill-bred, undisciplined; dissident, nonconformist; disrespectful, ill-mannered, impolite, impudent, insolent, rude

See Synonym Discussion at obedient

Rhymes with DOCILE

abseil, air mile, bass viol, black bile, Blue Nile, decile, erstwhile, exile, Fair Isle, field trial, gentile, high style, hostile, lifestyle, meanwhile, motile, nail file, New Style, old style, Old Style, on file, profile, redial, reptile, show trial, stockpile, time trial