intractable

From in- +‎ tractable.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɹæk.tə.bəl/

• Audio (US):

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intractable (comparative more intractable, superlative most intractable)

1. Not tractable; not able to be managed, controlled, governed or directed.
   • 1972, Edsger W. Dijkstra, The Humble Programmer (EWD340):

     And I cannot but expect that this will repeatedly lead to the discovery that an initially intractable problem can be factored after all.

2. (mathematics) (of a mathematical problem) Not able to be solved in polynomial time; too difficult to attempt to solve.
3. Difficult to deal with, solve, or manage. (of a problem)
   • 1988, Robert Jackall, “Chapter 1: Moral Probations, Old and New”, in Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers, Twentieth Anniversary edition, →ISBN, page 12:

     Work—bureaucratic work in particular—poses a series of intractable dilemmas that often demand compromises with traditional moral beliefs.

4. Stubborn; obstinate. (of a person)
5. (medicine) Difficult to treat (of a medical condition).

• intractability
• intractableness
• intractably

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “intractable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “intractable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

From in- +‎ tractable.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [in.tɾəkˈtab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.tɾakˈta.ble]

intractable m or f (masculine and feminine plural intractables)

1. intractable

   Antonym: tractable

• “intractable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “intractable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007