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docile

American  
[dos-uhl, doh-sahyl] / ˈdɒs əl, ˈdoʊ saɪl /

adjective

  1. easily managed or handled; tractable.

    a docile horse.
    Synonyms:
    obedient, malleable, manageable

  2. readily trained or taught; teachable.

docile British  
/ ˈdəʊsaɪl, dəʊˈsɪlɪtɪ /

adjective

  1. easy to manage, control, or discipline; submissive

  2. rare ready to learn; easy to teach

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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 )

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.