Words / C2

in-TRAKT-uh-bl/ɪnˈtræktəbl/

Intractable means stubbornly hard to manage, control, or solve. Policy writers and doctors use it of problems that resist ordinary fixes. In speech say it will not go away or stubborn; intractable is the essay word for a knot that will not loosen.

Meaning

Very hard to deal with, control, or solve.

Examples

• “Traffic is an intractable problem in the city.”
• “Inflation proved more intractable than expected.”
• “The two families were locked in an intractable feud.”

Good to know

Stubbornly difficult. Everyday: stubborn / unmanageable.

Near in meaning

stubborn

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