INTRACTABILITY Synonyms: 64 Similar and Opposite Words

intractability

noun

Definition of intractability

as in rebellion

refusal to obey the dog's frustrating intractability forced the family to try obedience training by a professional

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of intractability Their stories live on in Sardinian lore with an almost mythical quality, the brigands admired for their intractability. — IEEE Spectrum, 7 May 2026 But Bass and every council member and all their successors need to be reminded that a civic sense of intractability is a dangerous thing. — Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026 Taken together, these examples point to the possibilities for dissolving intractability with hope and reversing cycles of hatred and revenge – often strengthened by one’s faith. — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 25 Nov. 2025 Our problem may be less about the intractability of today’s campus conflicts than about the gap between progressive universities, particularly elite ones, and a much more conservative American public. — Jonathan Marks, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2020

Recent Examples of Synonyms for intractability

Noun

As the competition unfolds, Haymitch risks everything to take down the Games from within the arena — setting in motion the rebellion that will change Panem forever.

— Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2026
My assumption that the guest speakers’ anti-Communist insurrection might resonate with today’s youth and their antisystem rebellion proved to be mistaken.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of rebellion

Noun

This hint of connection between them is later made concrete when, at the demonstration, the two are complicit in an act of defiance — throwing a cobblestone at a policeman, badly injuring him — and must skip town for the night.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 27 Oct. 2026
These behaviors can be signals of distress but may be mistaken for defiance.

— Jermaine F. Williams, Baltimore Sun, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of defiance

Noun

And from that boredom, a different kind of will, the willfulness that accompanies a need to destroy that happiness.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
From grandmother to grandchild, these three sets of two sisters were powerful characters possessed with passion, willfulness, bravery, and devotion to each other.

— Griffin Dunne, Vanity Fair, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of willfulness

Noun

That’s great news for Vanguart’s four cofounders, who established the company in 2018 with a wealth of experience, if not some serious horological rebelliousness.

— Rachel Ingram, Robb Report, 18 Oct. 2026
The stigma helped imprint a stamp of rebelliousness on the brand which lives on today, says Carpenter, even as Burton has become a fixture on resort slopes across the world and within the annals of Olympian history.

— Tom Huddleston Jr., CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of rebelliousness

Browse Nearby Words

intoxications

intractability

intractable

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“Intractability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intractability. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of intractability

noun

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