unmanageable

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + manageable.^[2][3][4] The base adjective, recorded from 1593,^[2] is formed from the verb manage and the suffix -able,^[2][3] and the OED compares Italian maneggiabile (“that can be worked with the hands”), of the first half of the 16th century.^[2] The verb goes back through French to Italian maneggio (“handling or training of a horse”) and maneggiare (“to handle, control a horse”),^[3][5] from Latin manus (“hand”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hard to handle or manipulate because of its size, shape, weight or condition: 1600, in C. Edmondes's observations on Caesar's Commentaries, in the OED's entry revised in December 2014.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged has 1616 as its first date,^[5] the OED's date for the use of a person's character,^[2] and Etymonline dates the word to the 1630s.^[3] The Shorter Oxford places it in the early 17th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the two sides of manageable, which Etymonline records first as "capable of being handled" and then as "capable of being governed".^[3] Within a few years of the physical sense it was applied to an event or situation that could not be controlled (1606), then to people and their dispositions (1616) and animals (1635).^[2] From 1650 it was also used of immaterial things that are hard to cope with.^[2] Johnson (1755) gave "not easily governed" first and "not easily wielded" second.^[6] Collins now sums up all of these in one sense, of things hard or impossible to control, use or manipulate.^[7]

Timeline

• 1600 – of a physical thing, hard to handle because of size, shape or weight.^[2]
• 1606 – of an event, action or situation, hard to control.^[2]
• 1616 – of a person or a person's disposition, hard to govern.^[2][5]
• 1635 – of an animal.^[2]
• 1650 – of an immaterial thing, hard to cope with.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Hard or impossible to control or govern; intractable: The crowd grew unmanageable once the gates opened.^[7][5][2]
2. Hard to handle or use because of its size, shape or weight; unwieldy or cumbersome: an unmanageable pile of crates.^[7][2]
3. Of something immaterial, too great or demanding to cope with: an unmanageable workload.^[7][2][4]

Word family

• unmanageability
• unmanageably
• unmanageableness

Related words

• manage
• manageable

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins