Someone docile is disciplined, submissive or calm . In general, this adjective from the word docĭlis is used to describe someone who is easily indoctrinated, instructed, or subjected .
For example: “He is a very docile boy, he never questions the orders we give him” , “My grandfather is a docile patient who undergoes treatments without protesting” , “The president dreams of having a docile parliament, but the opposition is “ready to fight.”
The development of society is based on compliance with a relatively complex series of rules , which regulate our behavior to prevent us from straying from previously drawn lines. If we all do what is expected of us, that is, if we are docile, then we become useful individuals for our community and in this way we allow it to grow and be enriched. If, on the other hand, we make decisions that oppose common ones, we put order at risk, even if it is to replace it with a better one.
Said this way, being docile can have a negative connotation, since it is synonymous with "not questioning ideas" or "not paying attention to one's own." Throughout our growth , docility is more common in childhood and adulthood than in adolescence, although the reality of each individual may be different.
When we depend one hundred percent on our elders, we tend to put up less resistance to their instructions, despite the many mischiefs we may get up to. In adolescence, on the other hand, we begin to have more power , and that allows us to question certain ideas of our elders without caring so much about the consequences. Once we reach youth and, later, adulthood, when we no longer have that unconditional protection but are responsible for our own lives, it is normal for us to leave arrogance behind in pursuit of a more open attitude.
Many times the person or organization that obeys the instructions of the powerful without making any objection is called docile. The group of media and journalists related to the ruling party is known as a docile press : they do not publish news that negatively affects the image of the rulers, hiding negative economic statistics, keeping quiet about acts of corruption, etc. The independent press , on the other hand, is not tied to the will of the government, but has the freedom to publicize the facts that it considers important regardless of who they may harm.
When docility threatens freedom , there is no way to defend it, and that happens with the docile press, which hides or distorts reality driven by certain interests, without caring about the harm it may cause to millions of people. In fact, a journalist who does not tell the truth also harms himself, because the political leaders he covers for are not leading the country towards progress and, sooner or later, that will turn against him, if they do not do so. They betray before.
The idea of docile is usually used with respect to animals that have good character and temperament . A docile dog , to cite one case, is one that is not aggressive and responds to the instructions of the people who raise it. A docile horse , on the other hand, can be ridden without great effort.
The concept can even be applied to objects. A docile car is easy to drive thanks to its technical characteristics . The same can be said for a docile motorcycle .
According to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), stones and metals that are docile can be worked without effort. Due to its elasticity, copper can be identified as a docile material.