tame
Americanadjective
-
changed from the wild or savage state; domesticated.
a tame bear.
- Antonyms:
- wild
-
without the savageness or fear of humans normal in wild animals; gentle, fearless, or without shyness, as if domesticated.
That lion acts as tame as a house cat.
-
tractable, docile, or submissive, as a person or the disposition.
-
lacking in excitement; dull; insipid.
a very tame party.
-
spiritless or pusillanimous.
- Synonyms:
- fainthearted, dastardly, cowardly
-
not to be taken very seriously; without real power or importance; serviceable but harmless.
They kept a tame scientist around.
-
brought into service; rendered useful and manageable; under control, as natural resources or a source of power.
-
cultivated or improved by cultivation, as a plant or its fruit.
verb (used with object)
-
to make tame; domesticate; make tractable.
-
to deprive of courage, ardor, or zest.
-
to deprive of interest, excitement, or attractiveness; make dull.
-
to soften; tone down.
-
to harness or control; render useful, as a source of power.
-
to cultivate, as land or plants.
verb (used without object)
adjective
-
changed by man from a naturally wild state into a tractable, domesticated, or cultivated condition
-
(of animals) not fearful of human contact
-
lacking in spirit or initiative; meek or submissive
a tame personality
-
flat, insipid, or uninspiring
a tame ending to a book
-
slow-moving
a tame current
verb
-
to make tame; domesticate
-
to break the spirit of, subdue, or curb
-
to tone down, soften, or mitigate
Usage
What does tame mean? When an animal is tame, it has been domesticated, a sense metaphorically extended to someone or something considered "subdued," "boring," or "mild."Tame is also a verb for putting something wild under control.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
overtamenessnoun
-
tamabilitynoun
-
tamenessnoun
-
tamernoun
-
untamenessnoun
-
overtameadjective
-
tamableadjective
-
tamelessadjective
-
untameadjective
-
overtamelyadverb
-
tamelyadverb
-
untamelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tamesimple
-
tamessimple
-
have tamedperfect
-
has tamedperfect
-
am tamingprogressive
-
are tamingprogressive
-
is tamingprogressive
-
have been tamingperfect progressive
-
has been tamingperfect progressive
Past
-
tamedsimple
-
had tamedperfect
-
was tamingprogressive
-
were tamingprogressive
-
had been tamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tame
First recorded before 900; (adjective) Middle English; Old English tam; cognate with Dutch tam, German zahm, Old Norse tamr; (verb) Middle English tamen, derivative of the adjective; replacing Middle English temen “to tame,” Old English temian, derivative of tam; cognate with Old Norse temja, Gothic gatamjan; akin to Latin domāre “to tame”
Explanation
If something is tame, it cannot surprise or injure you. It’s predictable. Tame can be used as an adjective or verb. A circus lion is tame (adjective) because it’s been tamed (verb). A “lion-tamer” beat the wildness out of it. Sometimes tame isn’t fun — and not just for the bears who ride bicycles under the Big Top. Tame isn’t appealing when you’re going on a rollercoaster or seeing a fireworks display. If a friend tells you a concert is tame, will you rush out for tickets? Tame, however, is not all bad. Some people take anger management courses to learn to “tame their tempers.” Others work to “tame their tongues” after hurting another person with a careless comment.
Vocabulary lists containing tame
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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.
See Examples For:
But if they raise interest rates to tame inflation they risk slowing growth further.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Did you always know you possess the kind of voice that could tame a wild lion?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
For the doctors trying to tame the outbreak, the worst in years, it is an unwelcome distraction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Warsh has to tame excess inflation — ruling out near-term rate reductions — and ideally avoid steep rate increases that make credit even more costly to obtain.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
“What do you mean, no? I say yes! You don’t mean you think he would claw me now that he’s so tame and loving?”
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
If oil prices remain at current levels — obviously a big if — the read on consumer prices for June could be notably tamer.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
The first dogs were descendants of grey wolves that lingered around human camps at the end of the Ice Age, scavenging leftovers and slowly becoming tamer.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
It’s why I dress like a lion tamer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
Temperatures dipped and relative humidity climbed, offering the possibility of a tamer fire to battle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2025
Their fire whirled around him, danced with him but never hurt him: Dustfinger the tamer of flames, the man who breathed sparks, the friend of fire.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
It is so obsessively and addictively wild that its tamest moments sound like Richard Strauss on LSD.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
From the lack of snow to the lack of cold, the ongoing winter stands out as one of the tamest in memory in Washington.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2023
Sunday’s Game 3, another anti-Marshall Ruy Lopez line, was the tamest of the match so far.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 30, 2021
Cats, by contrast, descend from the fiercely antisocial and territorial Near Eastern wildcat, and they largely domesticated themselves, as the tamest cats began to hang out and hunt rodents in early farming villages.
From Science Magazine ● May 9, 2019
I think that must have been the tamest interaction of all time.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
“Humility,” Keane argues, “is a vital resource that strengthens the powerless and tames the powerful by questioning their claims to superiority.”
From Slate ● Jan. 2, 2026
As long as an interpretation follows a story’s spirit as it tames sprawling storylines into narratives we can wrap our heads around, people are willing to forgive a great deal.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2024
Many Wall Street analysts are, likewise, operating under the shorthand that the Fed tames inflation by raising interest rates, which in turn causes demand to tumble and joblessness to rise.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 8, 2023
It didn’t help that they were playing one of the better defensive and rebounding tames in the country.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 19, 2022
It's fame that tames them, mark my words.
From Miss Pat at School by Ginther, Pemberton
We learned about the annual return of swallows, admired blooming roses and citrus trees and absorbed a simple story: Spanish conquistadors and Catholic priests tamed a wild land, and we should follow their example.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
On a true pitch, small ground and with a lightning outfield, England could not be tamed.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Senators from both parties are likely to press him on how he squares that vision with an economy where inflation hasn’t yet been fully tamed.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
Cities are squalid crime hives that need to be tamed or abandoned in the Sheridanverse, whereas small towns and Western vistas are quaint canvases fertile with possibility.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2026
He came from the prairies, where he had tamed countless mustangs for the British cavalry’s effort in the Boer War.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Coal is a key contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, and phasing it out is crucial to taming climate change.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
A mild-mannered pastor, Kenny appears to be the reason for the taming — Shyanne doesn’t want to scare him off by showing too much of her real self.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
Each of those areas is packed with side quests and activities, ranging from fishing and arm wrestling to taming animals.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2026
His remarks rocketed around social media, arresting sliding stocks and taming spiking oil prices.
From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2026
It felt good to be a part of something as big as taming the Mississippi.
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
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.
