domineer

American  

[dom-uh-neer] / ˌdɒm əˈnɪər /

verb (used with or without object)

• domineers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• domineered,
  past participle,  past
• domineering
  present participle

1. to rule arbitrarily or despotically; tyrannize.

2. to tower; to tower over or above.

   The castle domineers the town.

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domineer British  

/ ˌdɒmɪˈnɪə /

verb

1. to act with arrogance or tyranny; behave imperiously

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• domineering
  present
• domineered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• domineer
  simple
• domineers
  simple
• have domineered
  perfect
• has domineered
  perfect
• am domineering
  progressive
• are domineering
  progressive
• is domineering
  progressive
• have been domineering
  perfect progressive
• has been domineering
  perfect progressive

Past

• domineered
  simple
• had domineered
  perfect
• was domineering
  progressive
• were domineering
  progressive
• had been domineering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will domineer
  simple
• will have domineered
  perfect
• will be domineering
  progressive
• will have been domineering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of domineer

First recorded in 1585–95; from Dutch domineren, from French dominer, from Latin dominārī, equivalent to domin(us) “lord” + -ārī infinitive suffix

Explanation

The verb domineer means to rule with tyranny and absolute power, like what may occur in a dictatorship — or possibly within a household if one person is a little too bossy. If you’ve ever been around someone who tends to domineer, it won’t surprise you to learn that the word domineer can be traced all the way back to the Latin word dominus, meaning “lord, master.” It can certainly seem like a person with an impulse to domineer acts like your lord and master. The word also has an adjective form, domineering, which is used to describe those with a tendency to domineer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

domineer domineers domineered domineering

He could dominate and domineer musicians in a recording studio, once upon a time, but he couldn’t charm 12 people on a 2007 jury into believing his story.

From Time ● Mar. 21, 2013

It goes to the head like wine, and you find attempts made outside journalism to dictate, to domineer to blackmail.

From Time Magazine Archive

Nor was she in any way prone to domineer.

From Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope

The journal was not solely in the Hegelian interest; and more than once, when Hegel attempted to domineer over the other editors, he was met by vehement and vigorous opposition.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various

Our outward act, indeed, admits restraint; ’Tis not in things o’er thought to domineer; Guard well thy thought; our thoughts are heard in heaven.

From Young's Night Thoughts With Life, Critical Dissertation and Explanatory Notes by Edward Young

Death, indeed, domineers over everything but the forms of the Exchequer.

From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

He domineers over freshmen when they first come to the hatch, and puzzles them with strange language of cues and cees, and some broken Latin which he has learned at his bin.

From Character Writings of the 17th Century by Various

Bessie—well, this little fair-haired "find" says all sorts of pretty, indiscreet things, interrupts tête-à-têtes, intrudes upon conferences, artlessly domineers over everybody, closing each day's performances by going to sleep upon the arm of Sir Donald.

From Oswald Langdon or, Pierre and Paul Lanier. A Romance of 1894-1898 by Carson Jay Lee

A country wedding and Whitsun-ale are the two main places he domineers in, where he goes for a musician, and overlooks the bag-pipe.

From Character Writings of the 17th Century by Various

But I have omitted to speak of a very prominent character, the Pardoner, the Age’s Knave, who always commands and domineers over the high and low vulgar.

From English Critical Essays Nineteenth Century by Edmund David Jones

Detractors say he sometimes domineered those around him, allowed his temper to erupt and, according to another former official, “has an ego the size of the Empire State Building.”

From Washington Post ● Jun. 22, 2021

Irish-born actress Maureen O’Hara was one of the biggest stars in films of the 1940s and ’50s, an era when it was common for leading ladies to be domineered by male heroes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2015

In the orphanage, in the Navy, in these last months of drifting, they had always subtly domineered over him.

From Time Magazine Archive

Many a U. S. newsorgan was snipped or censored in Cuba while "Tyrant" President Gerardo Machado domineered, but last week his more liberal successors found something which even they resolved to suppress.

From Time Magazine Archive

The young wife, as soon as she found herself alone in her own bedroom, sat down and resolved that she would never allow herself to be domineered by her husband's sisters.

From Is He Popenjoy? by Anthony Trollope

In fact he is the opposite — a domineering strongman who seeks to bully everyone around him into compliance.

From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2026

The actor was shown to no less domineering effect in The Great Santini, playing a frustrated Marine pilot who hectors and browbeats his teenage children.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026

At the time, the idea of crossing into the domineering English mainstream was often just a one-way deal, Times music columnist Agustin Gurza argued.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026

In a four-hour encounter, Hassan questioned him in a level but domineering voice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

Someone less original than Clara would have tired of her sister-in-law’s excessive pampering and constant worry, or have succumbed to her domineering and meticulous nature.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende