docile en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈdəʊ.saɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈdɑ.saɪl/ (US)
- (US) audio
- (US) audio
- /ˈdɑ.səl/ (US)
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *doḱ-éye-ti Proto-Italic *dokejō Proto-Italic *dokeō Ancient Greek διδάσκω (didáskō)sl. Latin doceō Proto-Indo-European *-elis Proto-Italic *-elis Latin -ilis Latin docilisder. Middle French docilebor. Middle English docyle English docile From Middle English docyle, from Middle French docile, from Latin docilis, from docēre (“teach”). Compare Portuguese dócil ("docile").
Meanings
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Ready to accept instruction or direction; obedient; subservient.
With that he dropped his head again, lamenting over and caressing her, and there was not a sound in all the house for a long, long time; they remaining clasped in one another’s arms, in the glorious sunshine that had crept in with Florence. He dressed himself for going out, with a docile submission to her entreaty; and walking with a feeble gait, and looking back, with a tremble, at the room in which he had been so long shut up, and where he had seen the picture in the glass, passed out with her into the hall.
1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:Harriet certainly was not clever, but she had a sweet, docile, grateful disposition; was totally free from conceit; and only desiring to be guided by any one she looked up to.
1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:
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Yielding to control or supervision, direction, or management.
Such literature may well be anathema to those, who are too docile and petty for their own good.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most docile | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more docile | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
bossy · unyielding · rebellious · domineering · noncompliant · unamenable · indocile · nonpassive · dominant · unbiddable · wilful · unmeek · undocile · untractable · authoritarian · recalcitrant · imperious · perverse · perverse · nonindulgent · obstinate · defiant · nonpliant · defiant · rebellious · unindulgent · dictatorial · uncompliant · overbearing · unrulable · nonyielding · intractable · nonamenable · unpliant · wilful · nondocile · incompliant · ungovernable · unpassive · incontrollable · noncontrollable · uncomplaisant · unmanageable · uncontrollable
Deriveds
docilize · docileness · undocile · docilization · nondocile · docility · docilely
Hyponyms
servile · sycophantic · obedient
Relateds
doctor · doctrine · humble · docent · indoctrinate · doctrinaire · doctorate · document · doctrinal
Synonyms
amenable · rulable · indulgent · maniable · tall · biddable · passive · compliant · governable · obedible · toward · morigerous · yielding · hearsome · tractable · compliant · malleable · complaisant · submissive · buxom · compliant · docile · tractable · pliant · amenable · obsequent · meek · teachable · controllable · obedient · compliant · manageable · obsequious · bowsome · meek · manageable
Translations (77)
tr uslu (accepting instructions) · da føjelig (yielding to control) · cs poslušný (yielding to control) · sh poučljiv (accepting instructions) · pl uległy (yielding to control) · de gefügig (accepting instructions) · ja 従順な (yielding to control) · bg податлив (yielding to control) · fi tottelevainen (accepting instructions) · de fügsam (yielding to control) · oc docil (yielding to control) · fi säyseä (yielding to control) · grc κτίλος (yielding to control) · tr uysal (yielding to control) · de fügsam (accepting instructions) · el πειθήνιος (yielding to control) · cs poslušný (accepting instructions) · de unterwürfig (yielding to control) · ru покорный (yielding to control) · gl dócil (yielding to control) · ca dòcil (accepting instructions) · kmr sernerm (yielding to control) · ja おとなしい (yielding to control) · fi alistuva (yielding to control) · fi tottelevainen (yielding to control) · hu kezelhető (yielding to control) · gd sèimh (yielding to control) · cs poddajný (yielding to control) · de handhabbar (yielding to control) · bg възприемчив (accepting instructions) · bg схватлив (accepting instructions) · cs povolný (yielding to control) · sv foglig (accepting instructions) · it docile (yielding to control) · crh yuvaş (yielding to control) · da føjelig (accepting instructions) · de folgsam (accepting instructions) · es dócil (accepting instructions) · gd soirbh (yielding to control) · de sanftmütig (yielding to control) · ru поня́тливый (accepting instructions) · pdt ontlich (yielding to control) · bg послушен (yielding to control) · fi kuulias (yielding to control) · pt dócil (yielding to control) · de gutmütig (yielding to control) · sv lydig (accepting instructions) · ca dòcil (yielding to control) · cs krotký (yielding to control) · no medgjørlig (yielding to control) · de steuerbar (yielding to control) · de gelehrig (accepting instructions) · yue 溫順嘅 /温顺嘅 (yielding to control) · tr uysal (accepting instructions) · de gehorsam (accepting instructions) · fi kuulias (accepting instructions) · pl pojętny (accepting instructions) · mi kōtungatunga (yielding to control) · hu irányítható (accepting instructions) · sv foglig (yielding to control) · mi kōratarata (yielding to control) · gl manso (yielding to control) · sh poslušan (yielding to control) · it obbediente (accepting instructions) · pl potulny (yielding to control) · it mansueto (yielding to control) · nl volgzaam (yielding to control) · fr docile (yielding to control) · es dócil (yielding to control) · tr yumuşak başlı (yielding to control) · da lydig (accepting instructions) · ro docil (yielding to control) · el υπάκουος (yielding to control) · ru послу́шный (yielding to control) · sh poslušan (accepting instructions) · de gefügig (yielding to control) · sh pokoran (yielding to control)