subdue
Americanverb (used with object)
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to conquer and bring into subjection.
Rome subdued Gaul.
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to overpower by superior force; overcome.
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to bring under mental or emotional control, as by persuasion or intimidation; render submissive.
- Synonyms:
- suppress, discipline, break, tame
-
to repress (feelings, impulses, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- suppress
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to bring (land) under cultivation.
to subdue the wilderness.
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to reduce the intensity, force, or vividness of (sound, light, color, etc.); tone down; soften.
- Antonyms:
- intensify
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to allay (inflammation, infection, etc.).
verb
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to establish ascendancy over by force
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to overcome and bring under control, as by intimidation or persuasion
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to hold in check or repress (feelings, emotions, etc)
-
to render less intense or less conspicuous
Related Words
See defeat.
Other Word Forms
- presubdue verb (used with object)
- subduable adjective
- subduableness noun
- subduably adverb
- subdual noun
- subduer noun
- subduingly adverb
- unsubduable adjective
Etymology
Origin of subdue
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English so(b)duen, so(b)dewen, from unattested Anglo-French soduer “to overcome,” from Old French soduire “to deceive, seduce,” from Latin subdūcere “to withdraw”; meaning in English (and Anglo-French ) from Latin subdere “to place beneath, subdue”; subduct
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.
But overall, retirees should be fine as long as the market fallout remains subdued, advisers said.
From MarketWatch
The judge ruled officers have repeatedly violated previous court orders that only allow the weapon to be used to subdue protesters who pose a threat of violence.
From Los Angeles Times
A few of the children were curious, but everyone, including the children, was subdued.
From Literature
A public inquiry into the attacks has heard how Sanders pushed for a charge against Calocane to subdue some of the reporting, due to media laws around court reporting.
From BBC
Back down in the valley, in the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, the mood was subdued, with few pedestrians wandering the streets.
From Barron's
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.
