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

He hated the domination of others, but was prone to domineer himself.

From Lady Anna by Trollope, Anthony

He is quite likely to think that because he has bought the right to present to a living he has also bought the right to domineer over the incumbent.

From Abington Abbey A Novel by Marshall, Archibald

Overbear′ing, inclined to domineer, esp. in manner or conduct: haughty and dogmatical: imperious.—adv.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

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

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 Burke, Edmund

I listened to it sitting in the hop-oast, whose tower, like a castle turret, overlooks and domineers the yard.

From Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies by Jefferies, Richard

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 learnt at his bin.

From Microcosmography or, a Piece of the World Discovered; in Essays and Characters by Earle, John

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 Lee, Carson Jay

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

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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

I, too, wished for a G. F. who domineered a maiden aunt.

From Memories of a Musical Life by Mason, William

In a nonlinear fashion, the novel follows a domineering teacher’s relationship with her students against the backdrop of fascism’s rise in Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Laurie Metcalf plays Linda, the siblings’ domineering mother.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

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

General Dreedle’s great, red domineering face was gnarled with perplexity and oaken with awesome resolution.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller