Intractable

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈtɹæk.tə.bəl/

Definitions

1. Extremely difficult or impossible to manage, control, or solve despite persistent efforts
2. Characterized by a resistance to being managed, resolved, or changed, making issues challenging to influence or control in various contexts
3. Not easily governed or brought under control, often defying efforts to influence ; stubbornly unresponsive to treatment or attempts at resolution

Etymology: Intractable is a straightforward compound: the prefix "in-", meaning "not", attached to "tractable", which describes something that can be easily led, managed or worked. The "in-" is the same negating prefix found in words like "inactive" or "invisible", and it arrived in English through Latin, where it had been a negating element since antiquity. The adjective "tractable" comes from Latin "tractabilis", from "tractare", meaning "to handle, drag or manage", a frequentative of "trahere", "to pull or draw". Its sense in English, "easy to handle or control", reflects that physical root of pulling and handling, so a tractable animal or material is one that can be easily drawn along or worked with. Intractable therefore began as a plain description of anything that resisted being handled, and its current meaning of stubbornly difficult to manage grows directly from that physical resistance.

Synonyms: unmanageable, stubborn, difficult

Antonyms: manageable, compliant