Possible to handle, influence, or solve with a workable amount of effort.
Reach for it when describing a problem or system that has become manageable without claiming it is easy
Separating urgent repairs from cosmetic work made the housing backlog tractable.
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| everyday | |
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| literary |
playful
tame
Fits when a formerly unruly difficulty is now under control
Careful Tame is too casual and can belittle real complexity.
everyday
Fits when the demands fit available time or capacity
Careful Manageable is plainer and may concern workload rather than solvability.
professional
solvable
Fits when a definite solution can in principle be found
Careful Solvable does not indicate that the search or implementation is manageable.
professional
Fits when a plan can function acceptably in practice
Careful Workable describes a solution more naturally than the problem it addresses.
formal
Fits when something responds to treatment, influence, or analysis
Careful Amenable can also describe a willing person and may sound overly technical.
literary
docile
Fits when a person or animal is readily controlled
Careful Calling a person docile demeans the willing cooperation being praised.
tractable problem
Better measurements turned the vague complaint into a tractable problem.
computationally tractable
The smaller model is computationally tractable on standard laptops.
make tractable
A clear jurisdiction map will make tractable what first looked chaotic.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: EncycloPetey, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated
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