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.

---

domineer British  

/ ˌdɒmɪˈnɪə /

verb

1. to act with arrogance or tyranny; behave imperiously

---

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

It does not domineer over the President himself, but it makes the Secretaries its humble servants.

From Congressional Government A Study in American Politics by Woodrow Wilson

“I’m—I’m—astonished, Kate,” she cried, with difficulty suppressing her inclination to domineer.

From The Law-Breakers by Ridgwell Cullum

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

A pure idea, without a material hand or weapon, domineers over the greatest empire under the sun, in spite of the whole power of that empire armed to crush it.

From Continental Monthly , Vol. 5, No. 6, June, 1864 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various

There are three whose life is no life:—He who lives at another's table; he whose wife domineers over him; and he who suffers bodily affliction.

From Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala by Various

He runs the whole estate and domineers over her, and she don't dast to say her soul's her own.

From The Skipper and the Skipped Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul by Holman Day

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

He treated his wife with respect, romped in the nursery, and domineered the servants royally.

From The White Peacock by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

Born in 1929 to a wealthy and conservative family -- by her account with a domineering mother and philandering father -- Kusama began producing her unique signature art aged 10.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Yeong-hye is a young married woman in Seoul whose domineering husband prizes her for her unchallenging plainness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

“He’s aware of his position in the world. He lives by himself and he’s gay and he’s been unhappy in love. He’s inquisitive and he’s domineering — I can sort of relate to that.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026

"He was just so domineering and you just couldn't talk back to him," she added.

From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026

He began speaking in a loud, rather domineering voice.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier