tractable

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Easy to guide or control, because willing to follow instructions or accept direction.

   Grammar: Describes people or animals: a tractable horse.

   Patterns

   • tractable to something

   The horse was calm and tractable.

   She taught a tractable class of young students.

   A tractable child is easy to teach.

2. 2adjectivecomparabletechnical

   Of a problem or task, simple enough to be solved or handled with ordinary methods.

   Grammar: Used with problems: a tractable problem.

   Patterns

   • a tractable problem

   Engineers made the issue tractable by splitting it in two.

   The equation is tractable with basic algebra.

   Once simplified, the budget problem was tractable.

Word forms

Common combinations

tractable problem

It's a tractable problem if we have enough data.

remain tractable

The dog remained tractable during training.

seem tractable

The task seemed tractable at first.

tractable to reason

He was tractable to reason.

Synonyms and how they differ

docile

Docile suggests quietly obedient, often a bit passive, while tractable stresses being easy to guide.

manageable

Manageable is a plain, everyday word that fits tasks more than people.

compliant

Compliant means going along with rules or requests, and is often used in formal settings.

pliable

Pliable suggests being easily bent or influenced, sometimes weakly so.

Opposites

Word family

tractability noun

the quality of being easy to manage

tractably adverb

in a manageable way

intractable adjective

hard to control or solve

traction noun

grip or pulling force

Commonly confused: tractable or tractor?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “tractable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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