Meaning & use
tractile
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparabletechnicalrare
Capable of being drawn out or stretched into a long thin form without breaking.
Grammar: Used mainly before a noun or after a linking verb: a tractile substance; the metal is tractile.
Patterns
- a tractile material
- a tractile substance
Old handbooks describe gold as a highly tractile metal that can be pulled into extremely fine wire.
The engineer rejected the alloy because it was not tractile enough for the drawing process.
Laboratory notes from the period list several tractile substances, including copper and silver.
Common combinations
- highly tractile
- The report calls the new alloy highly tractile and easy to shape.
- a tractile metal
- Copper is a tractile metal, which is why it is drawn into wire.
- a tractile substance
- Students were asked to name a tractile substance found in the laboratory.
- tractile properties
- The manufacturer tested the tractile properties of the wire before shipping it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ductile
- The everyday technical term for metals that can be pulled into wire; use it instead of "tractile" in modern writing.
- malleable
- Similar, but it describes materials that can be hammered or pressed into shape rather than stretched.
- pliable
- Used more for soft materials like clay or leather that bend easily, not for metals being drawn out.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: tractile or tactile?
tractile vs tactile
Sounds similar but means "related to the sense of touch", as in "tactile feedback".
Practice
Which sentence uses "tractile" correctly?
Choose one answer.
"Tractile" describes a material that can be stretched or drawn out, which fits gold being drawn into wire. Option A describes pressing into shape, which is "malleable", not "tractile"; option C confuses it with "tactile"; option D is nonsense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tractile”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.