docile

[dos-uhl, doh-sahyl]

adjective

1. easily managed or handled; tractable.

   a docile horse.

   Synonyms: obedient, malleable, manageable

2. readily trained or taught; teachable.

docile

/ ˈdəʊsaɪl, dəʊˈsɪlɪtɪ /

adjective

1. easy to manage, control, or discipline; submissive

2. rare,  ready to learn; easy to teach

Other Word Forms

• docilely adverb
• docility noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of docile¹

First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin docilis “readily taught,” equivalent to doc(ēre) “to teach” + -ilis adjective suffix ( -ile )

Word History and Origins

Origin of docile¹

C15: from Latin docilis easily taught, from docēre to teach

Example Sentences

A university professor who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity employs a 10-year-old boy because children are "cheaper and more docile".

Read more on Barron's

Rules are spelled out at the top that make clear that this isn’t one of those docile theatergoing experiences, in which the audience is expected to keep mum as the actors do all the work.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Lives are altered as the salon workers go about their day braiding the hair of customers who range from docile and caring to feisty and acrimonious.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Last season, almost 90% of the animals caught in NSW's nets were not target species – including 11 critically endangered, and largely docile, grey nurse sharks.

Read more on BBC

Scientists had thought chimps were docile vegetarians, but on this day about three months after her arrival, Goodall spied a group of the apes feasting on something pink.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• easygoing 
• gentle 
• laid-back 
• meek 
• obedient 
• pliable 
• pliant 
• well-behaved