Meaning & use
docility
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
A readiness to be taught, led, or controlled without arguing or resisting.
Grammar: No plural: the horse's docility, not docilities.
Patterns
- the docility of someone
- docility toward someone
The gentle docility of the old horse made it perfect for beginners.
The students' docility surprised the new teacher, who had expected arguments.
Some critics see the crowd's docility as a sign of fear.
Common combinations
- remarkable docility
- The animals showed remarkable docility during the vet visit.
- docility of
- The docility of the breed makes it popular with families.
- meek docility
- The clerk accepted the order with meek docility.
- mistake for docility
- She mistook his silence for docility.
- show docility
- The dog showed docility when the children petted it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- meekness
- Meekness stresses a gentle, humble nature, while docility focuses on being easily led.
- obedience
- Obedience is just following orders, but docility describes the willing, mild character behind it.
- tameness
- Tameness is mostly used for animals that are no longer wild, whereas docility fits people and animals alike.
- submissiveness
- Submissiveness often sounds more negative, implying weakness before another's power.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: docility or docility?
docility vs docility
Do not confuse it with 'ductility', which is a physical property of metals that can be drawn into wire.
Practice
The breeder praised the dog's ____, saying it never needed harsh training.
Choose one answer.
Docility is an easily taught, calm nature, which fits a dog needing no harsh training. Agility is speed and flexibility, which would not explain easy training.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “docility”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.