intractability.

1. The difficulty of bringing a problem, condition or person under effective control, treatment or resolution.

2. The inability to solve a computational problem efficiently enough at the relevant scale using the applicable methods.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• intractability of a dispute
• practical intractability

On the page

The dispute’s intractability reflected conflicting incentives rather than a lack of available information.

The analysis explained the practical intractability of coordinating decisions across the agencies.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: definition, comparison, qualification, causal analysis. Disciplines: academic writing, institutional analysis, general research. Commonness: uncommon.