docile
adjective
Simple meaning
Ready to accept instruction or direction.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dossuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdɑːsəl
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Ready to accept instruction or direction; obedient; subservient.
Yielding to control or supervision, direction, or management.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Ready to accept instruction or direction; obedient; subservient.
Used this way, docile is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use docile
- “The docile masses of an enslaved nation.”adjective
Share your sentence
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: ready to accept instruction or direction
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “docile” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.