contractile

1. 1.

   capable of contracting or being contracted

   “the contractile wings of an insect”

   Similarcontracted

Questions about contractile

What does contractile mean?

contractile means "capable of contracting or being contracted".

How many syllables are in contractile?

contractile has 4 syllables: con-trac-ti-le. The stress falls on "trac".

Is contractile a common word?

contractile is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.