subsidiary
Americanadjective
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serving to assist or supplement; auxiliary; supplementary.
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subordinate or secondary.
subsidiary issues.
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of or relating to a subsidiary.
noun
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a subsidiary thing or person.
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Music. a subordinate theme or subject.
adjective
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serving to aid or supplement; auxiliary
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of lesser importance; subordinate in function
noun
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a person who or thing that is subsidiary
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short for subsidiary company
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of subsidiary
1535–45; < Latin subsidiārius, equivalent to subsidi ( um ) ( see subsidy) + -ārius -ary
Explanation
If a company belongs to another company, then the owned company is a subsidiary. When a large company bought your small business, you became a subsidiary. It still hurts to call them the parent company, since you publish novels and they make toilet paper. The adjective form of subsidiary describes something that is of secondary importance or that functions in a supporting capacity. In addition to running the band program, you're a member of several subsidiary committees like the fund raising committee and the hospitality committee. Traffic on the road was light when you drove outside the city, but as more subsidiary roads joined with the main one, traffic quickly became congested.
Vocabulary lists containing subsidiary
Power Prefix: sub-
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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.
The Department of Insurance in May filed an administrative action against State Farm General — the subsidiary of the giant Bloomington, Ill., insurer that handles California home insurance — after completing a “market conduct” exam.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SpaceX said the all-stock deal was expected to close in the third quarter and that Cursor would become a wholly owned subsidiary.
From Barron's • Jun. 16, 2026
Leech retired from Western Asset Management, a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, in August 2025 after he was placed on leave.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Royce Investment Partners is a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton and is based in New York.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 4, 2026
I hailed an autocab outside the Mailbox, making sure to select one operated by a local cab company and not a SupraCab, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of IOI.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
