Intractable: meaning and SAT practice
Intractable (adjective) means: Difficult to manage, control, or solve despite efforts.
Intractable in a sentence
The intractable problem of homelessness has troubled cities for decades.
Similar: stubborn, difficult, unmanageable, obstinate. Opposite: manageable, tractable, easy.
SAT-style practice: what does “intractable” most nearly mean?
The intractable problem of homelessness has troubled cities for decades.
As used in the sentence, “intractable” most nearly means
- primitive
- stubborn
- touching
- saccharine
Show the answer
Answer: B. “intractable” means: Difficult to manage, control, or solve despite efforts. “stubborn” is the closest match in this sentence. The other choices are real SAT-level words, but none of them carries that meaning here.
On the digital SAT this is the “Words in Context” skill, about 7 of the 54 Reading and Writing questions. The test asks what a word means as used in the passage, so a word’s most common meaning is not always the answer. More of these, with full explanations, are on SAT Words in Context practice questions.
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