Something manageable is easy enough to control or deal with. A manageable amount of homework you can finish. A manageable child is not wild; a manageable risk is one you can live with. People use it for size, for people, for problems, for hair, for pain — anything that might get out of hand. It does not mean “easy and pleasant,” only “I can handle this.” A hard job can still be manageable if you have time and a plan. The opposite, unmanageable, is stronger: the thing has gone beyond you. Though actually, calling a person “manageable” can sound a little cold, as if they were a task, so with people many speakers prefer “easy to work with.”