How to Use intractable in a Sentence

intractable

adjective
  • The heart and its foolish, intractable longings are the show’s first big theme.
    Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
  • What remained was the most intractable of all the legacies of the war: Agent Orange.
    George Black, The New Republic, 19 Dec. 2022
  • For decades, the debate around health care has been intractable.
    James Breiding, Scientific American, 16 June 2021
  • Now, at the start of the third year of AI college, the problem seems as intractable as ever.
    Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2024
  • There are many intractable problems in the world today, but this is not one of them.
    Terri Gerstein, New York Daily News, 23 July 2024
  • These are intractable, meaty problems, the kinds avant-garde artists used to want to explore.
    Brian T. Allen, National Review, 2 Sep. 2021
  • But the issue is one of the most intractable subjects in Washington, so the odds of a near-term deal look slim.
    Mackenzie Hawkins, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Even cities with the most intractable rents are seeing some cooling.
    Anna Bahney, CNN, 30 Jan. 2024
  • Ben’s stories about Howard, that enthralled us to the point of intractable fandom.
    Malina Saval, Variety, 6 Sep. 2022
  • But in some places, the worker shortfalls could prove more intractable.
    Julia Horowitz, CNN, 29 June 2021
  • The name was meant to situate the group at the intersection of C.L.S. and the intractable questions of race.
    Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021
  • As all signs pointed to an intractable stalemate, news began to break of a deal.
    Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Jan. 2023
  • For decades, China stayed well away from the intractable conflicts of the Middle East, but that has changed in recent years.
    Lyric Li, Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2023
  • The good news is that perfectionism is not an intractable trait.
    Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 6 Jan. 2023
  • The crisis shows just how intractable even the most preventable forms of gun violence can be.
    Suzy Khimm, NBC News, 3 July 2024
  • But perhaps the most intractable long-term challenge to the United States is China.
    Stephen Collinson, CNN, 19 Jan. 2022
  • Radiofrequency ablation of the nerves in the back has been used since the 1970s in people with intractable back pain.
    Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 21 Nov. 2022
  • Pancreatic cancer is one of the most intractable forms of the disease.
    Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Jan. 2024
  • South Africa brought the case, which goes to the core of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, and had asked the court to order Israel to halt its operation.
    Mike Corder, Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2024
  • The strait, which separates Taiwan from mainland China, is the site of one of the world’s more intractable disputes.
    Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2023
  • Still, the drug could be a useful new tool in the fight against an intractable, progressive condition.
    Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 3 Nov. 2022
  • How to start a business in a refugee camp This approach is now being applied to one of the world’s most intractable problems: the refugee crisis.
    Dianne Calvi, Fortune, 20 June 2023
  • What Democrats are supposed to do about the GOP’s intractable position is anyone’s guess.
    Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 5 July 2022
  • Yes, that is good for an underdog story, but the three small tribes lead to intractable dynamics that are hard to break.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 3 Apr. 2024
  • One of the main features of the disorder is intractable diarrhea.
    Korin Miller, Health.com, 22 Nov. 2021
  • The task of shrinking our societal footprint is the most urgent problem of our era — and perhaps the most intractable.
    Noah Gallagher Shannon, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2022
  • Concrete is also one of the more intractable climate problems.
    Hannah Kirshner, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2023
  • But observers warn the abrupt end to the seemingly intractable conflict may have also sown the seeds of future conflicts.
    Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Oct. 2023
  • In the intractable fight against America's online scam epidemic, there is one unlikely place where efforts to fight back appear to be making an impact.
    Jim Axelrod, CBS News, 25 Sep. 2024
  • In arguments over intractable positions based on memories and feelings, there are no winners or losers.
    Christian Schneider, National Review, 26 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intractable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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