Other Words from tractable

tractability \ ˌtrak-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē

\ noun

tractableness \ ˈtrak-tə-bəl-nəs

\ noun

tractably \ ˈtrak-tə-blē

\ adverb

Choose the Right Synonym for tractable

obedient, docile, tractable, amenable mean submissive to the will of another. obedient implies compliance with the demands or requests of one in authority. obedient to the government docile implies a predisposition to submit readily to control or guidance. a docile child tractable suggests having a character that permits easy handling or managing. tractable animals amenable suggests a willingness to yield or cooperate because of a desire to be agreeable or because of a natural open-mindedness. amenable to new ideas

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Obedient, docile, and amenable are synonyms of tractable, but those four words have slightly different shades of meaning. Tractable describes an individual whose character permits easy handling, while docile implies a predisposition to submit readily to authority. Obedient is often used to describe compliance with authority, although that compliance is not necessarily offered eagerly. Amenable, on the other hand, is usually used when one cooperates out of a desire to be agreeable. Tractable dates from the early 16th century and derives from the Latin verb tractare ("to handle" or "to treat"). Despite the resemblance, this root did not give us the noun tractor or verbs such as contract or attract-those all derive from a loosely related Latin verb trahere ("to draw or drag").

Examples of tractable in a Sentence

This new approach should make the problem more tractable. He's a very tractable child.

Recent Examples on the Web In town in traffic, the buttery clutch and tractable power output make commutes more fun, while out on the open road, even near its top speed, the Meteor feels unhurried, solid and composed. — Bill Roberson, Forbes, 20 May 2021 This involves converting the PDE into a set of tractable algebraic equations that are assumed to hold over tiny increments of space and time. — Quanta Magazine, 19 Apr. 2021 Think about financial systems, which are more or less algorithmically tractable. — Bruce Schneier, Wired, 19 Apr. 2021 In fact, questions about the nature of possible alien languages are tractable. — Arik Kershenbaum, WSJ, 27 Mar. 2021 Is the sitter skeptical and tense, or compliant and tractable? — Washington Post, 25 Mar. 2021 Writing genomes that contain millions of nucleotides, as in bacteria and yeast, has become tractable as well. — Andrew Hessel, Scientific American, 10 Nov. 2020 Given such historical and contemporary precedents, humanity can only hope that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 will prove to be a tractable and eradicable pathogen. — Nükhet Varlik, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2020 Yet despite its appetite for revs, the T.50 also promises to be tractable: the engine produces 70 percent of its maximum 344 lb-ft of torque at just 2500 rpm. — Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 4 Aug. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tractable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.