Intractable   (pronounced in-trak-tuh-bul) adjective


Definition

1. hard to manage or govern; resistant to control; stubborn.  2. difficult to manipulate or work with; hard to shape or mold.  3. not easy to treat or cure; hard to relieve or lessen.

Main Example

  • The series of massive suicide bombings last month across three continents--from Russia and Saudi Arabia to Morocco and the Philippines--offer a powerful reminder that the world's most intractable problem today is terrorism by people who are willing to die for their cause.

    Workplace Examples

  • As the new VP for marketing, my No. 1 priority will be to address our low market share. Yes, it's a pretty intractable problem, but it is not something that is insoluble.

  • Managing Jerry has never been easy! Now that one of his golfing buddies is our new Exec. VP, Jerry will probably become even more intractable.

    Other Examples

  • some employees who are intractable opponents of the company's new safety regulations

  • somebody suffering from a terminal illness and who is in intractable pain seeking relief through euthanasia

  • an intractable farm animal; an intractable fire such as the one in Yellowstone National Park in 1988, when the 25,000 firefighters who battled the blaze for several weeks were able to subdue it only after the weather turned in their favor

  • during the U.S.-France slugfest preceding the war in Iraq, each nation accusing the other of taking an intractably hard line

  • the long and personal enmity between Ariel Sharon and Yassar Arafat only adding to the intractability of the Arab-Israeli dispute

    © 2003 V.J. Singal

    This Month's Other Words

    Evanescent
    Prevaricate
    Arcane and Arcana
    Monolith
    Protestation
    Egomaniacal
    Penchant

    Now available on CD-ROM: Past editions of Words of the Month. Click here for more information.
    The Articulate Professional (1995 revised edition) also available. Click here for more information.

    Now get the CD-ROM and the book for only $27. Click here to order.
    *Price includes shipping in US/Canada.