Dictionary.com
definitions

tractable

[ trak-tuh-buhl ]
/ ˈtræk tə bəl /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tractable ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

easily managed or controlled; docile; yielding: a tractable child; a tractable disposition.
easily worked, shaped, or otherwise handled; malleable.

RELATED WORDS

amenable, complaisant, compliant, docile, ductile, facile, flexible, game, governable, malleable, meek, obedient, persuadable, plastic, pliable, pliant, subdued, submissive, tame, willing

Nearby words

  1. trackway,
  2. track‐train dynamics,
  3. tract,
  4. tract house,
  5. tract society,
  6. tractarian,
  7. tractarianism,
  8. tractate,
  9. tractile,
  10. tractility

Origin of tractable

1495–1505; < Latin tractābilis, equivalent to tractā(re) to handle, deal with (frequentative of trahere to draw) + -bilis -ble
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tractable

British Dictionary definitions for tractable

tractable

/ (ˈtræktəbəl) /

adjective

easily controlled or persuaded
readily worked; malleable
Derived Formstractability or tractableness, nountractably, adverb

Word Origin for tractable

C16: from Latin tractābilis, from tractāre to manage, from trahere to draw
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tractable

tractable

adj.

"manageable," early 15c., from Latin tractabilis "that may be touched, handled, or managed," from tractare "to handle, manage" (see treat). Related: Tractability.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper