docile
Americanadjective
-
easily managed or handled; tractable.
a docile horse.
- Synonyms:
- obedient, malleable, manageable
-
readily trained or taught; teachable.
adjective
-
easy to manage, control, or discipline; submissive
-
rare ready to learn; easy to teach
Other Word Forms
- docilely adverb
- docility noun
Etymology
Origin of docile
First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin docilis “readily taught,” equivalent to doc(ēre) “to teach” + -ilis adjective suffix ( -ile )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This time they touched down on the back of a thumping 3-0 one-day defeat in New Zealand and criticism over scheduling -- just a single three-day red-ball warm-up on a docile pitch.
From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025
Rules are spelled out at the top that make clear that this isn’t one of those docile theatergoing experiences, in which the audience is expected to keep mum as the actors do all the work.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2025
Lives are altered as the salon workers go about their day braiding the hair of customers who range from docile and caring to feisty and acrimonious.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025
“And boy, if my memory serves, those droids were there just to serve humanity; so docile, nothing frightening about them.”
From Salon • Sep. 8, 2025
They were both so docile and willing to help that Úrsula took them on to help her with her household chores.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
