intractable
in-TRAK-tuh-buladjMeaning hard to manage, control or solve
Memory hook IN-TRACT-ABLE: NOT PULL-ABLE. Jamal pulls and pulls on the rope, but the donkey won’t move an inch. He can’t pull it or manage it: the donkey is intractable.
The intractable goat refused to leave the porch, no matter how hard we pulled.
In context Most leaks are quickly fixed, but the old barn roof proved intractable: every patch failed, and new drips appeared with each storm.
Similar unmanageable, unruly, uncontrollable, difficult
Opposite manageable, tractable, obedient
From Latin intractabilis: in (not) + tractabilis (manageable), from tractare, “to handle,” from trahere, “to pull.”