subdue
Americanverb (used with object)
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to conquer and bring into subjection.
Rome subdued Gaul.
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to overpower by superior force; overcome.
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to bring under mental or emotional control, as by persuasion or intimidation; render submissive.
- Synonyms:
- suppress, discipline, break, tame
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to repress (feelings, impulses, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- suppress
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to bring (land) under cultivation.
to subdue the wilderness.
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to reduce the intensity, force, or vividness of (sound, light, color, etc.); tone down; soften.
- Antonyms:
- intensify
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to allay (inflammation, infection, etc.).
verb
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to establish ascendancy over by force
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to overcome and bring under control, as by intimidation or persuasion
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to hold in check or repress (feelings, emotions, etc)
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to render less intense or less conspicuous
Related Words
See defeat.
Other Word Forms
- presubdue verb (used with object)
- subduable adjective
- subduableness noun
- subduably adverb
- subdual noun
- subduer noun
- subduingly adverb
- unsubduable adjective
Etymology
Origin of subdue
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English so(b)duen, so(b)dewen, from unattested Anglo-French soduer “to overcome,” from Old French soduire “to deceive, seduce,” from Latin subdūcere “to withdraw”; meaning in English (and Anglo-French ) from Latin subdere “to place beneath, subdue”; subduct
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
China achieved a historic trade surplus of $1.2 trillion last year -- a key strong spot as consumer sentiment at home remained subdued.
From Barron's
However, a rate reduction is a possibility due to subdued growth and recent strength in the Mexican peso, they said.
Venetian painting of the Renaissance is richly, radiantly colored, mainly because it is oil-based, unlike the Florentines’ water-based tempera, which yields a more chromatically subdued result.
In a report accompanying the EPC statistics, the government pointed to the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast of a continued decrease in completed homes because of "recent subdued housing starts".
From BBC
Meanwhile, automakers are still digesting chip inventories they built at the height of the pandemic, meaning that demand for semiconductors from the sector has remained subdued in recent years.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
