Word of the Day

Sunday, December 12, 1999

intractable

\in-TRAK-tuh-buhl\ , adjective;

Not easily governed, managed, or directed; stubborn; obstinate; as, "an intractable child."

Not easily wrought or manipulated; as, "intractable materials."

Not easily remedied, relieved, or dealt with; as, "intractable problems."

Quotes:

Would their methods work with a child who was as violent and intractable as Helen?

-- Dorothy Herrmann, Helen Keller: A Life

The efforts of a few artistic architects to treat the cast-iron front only served to show how intractable the material was.

-- Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins, and David Fishman, New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age

Many of the problems of government and society seem intractable, while debate centered on policy issues appears fruitless.

-- Robert Shogan, The Double-Edged Sword

Origin:

Intractable is from Latin intractabilis, from in-, "not" + tractabilis, "manageable," from trahere, "to draw (along), to drag, to pull."