tractable

[trak-tuh-buhl]

adjective

1. easily managed or controlled; docile; yielding.

   a tractable child; a tractable disposition.

   Synonyms: governable, willing, manageable
   Antonyms: stubborn

2. easily worked, shaped, or otherwise handled; malleable.

tractable

/ ˈtræktəbəl /

adjective

1. easily controlled or persuaded

2. readily worked; malleable

Other Word Forms

• tractability noun
• tractably adverb
• tractableness noun
• nontractability noun
• nontractable adjective
• nontractableness noun
• nontractably adverb
• untractability noun
• untractable adjective
• untractableness noun
• untractably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of tractable¹

1495–1505; < Latin tractābilis, equivalent to tractā ( re ) to handle, deal with (frequentative of trahere to draw) + -bilis -ble

Word History and Origins

Origin of tractable¹

C16: from Latin tractābilis , from tractāre to manage, from trahere to draw

Example Sentences

“Social media is the problem, and it’s really the algorithms” provides a very simple and tractable solution, which is that you fix the algorithms.

From Salon

While this makes the problem mathematically tractable, it raises the obvious question -- is it true?

From Science Daily

Hardiman writes that Joyce was a “tractable and ingenious” craftsman who quickly became adept in soldering, casting, inlaying and many other skills required of a medieval jeweler.

From National Geographic

One could use this method to obtain an optimal solution more quickly or, for especially complex problems, a better solution in a tractable amount of time.

From Science Daily

The authors suggest that deciding on a tractable size for prescribed burns, and predicting the characteristic results, could be aided by looking at the data on medium-sized fires in each vegetation type.

From Science Daily