docile

[ dos-uhl; British doh-sahyl ]
See synonyms for docile on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. easily managed or handled; tractable: a docile horse.

  2. readily trained or taught; teachable.

Origin of docile

1
First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin docilis “readily taught,” equivalent to doc(ēre) “to teach” + -ilis adjective suffix (see -ile)

Other words for docile

Other words from docile

  • doc·ile·ly, adverb
  • do·cil·i·ty [do-sil-i-tee, doh-], /dɒˈsɪl ɪ ti, doʊ-/, noun

Words Nearby docile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use docile in a sentence

  • It is the young animals of these species which are the most social and docile and most approach man in appearance.

    Man And His Ancestor | Charles Morris
  • It consisted in subjecting some of the docile herbivora more fully to human mastership.

    Man And His Ancestor | Charles Morris
  • She tried to turn a docile face toward old Kano; but the deepening glory of her husband's look drew her as light draws a flower.

    The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil Fenollosa
  • Instead of creating men, a perfect God ought to have created only docile and submissive angels.

  • We have always been taught to think a nation sound and safe whose women were docile and domestic.

British Dictionary definitions for docile

docile

/ (ˈdəʊsaɪl) /


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

  2. rare ready to learn; easy to teach

Origin of docile

1
C15: from Latin docilis easily taught, from docēre to teach

Derived forms of docile

  • docilely, adverb
  • docility (dəʊˈsɪlɪtɪ), noun

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