subdue
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to conquer and bring into subjection.
Rome subdued Gaul.
-
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
-
to bring (land) under cultivation.
to subdue the wilderness.
-
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
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”; see subduct
Explanation
To subdue is to hold back, put down, or defeat. A Doberman can be subdued with a bone, but subduing a yapping toy poodle can be a mail carrier's greatest daily challenge. You can use the verb subdue in ways ranging from subtle to very forceful. If someone is angry, you might subdue him with kind words that overcome his anger. If someone is coming at you with a giant karate chop, you may be able to subdue her with a secret weapon — a knee-snap–heel-kick-floor-drop. Sub-, as in submarine means "below" and subdue means to bring low — to keep down literally or to calm down emotionally.
Vocabulary lists containing subdue
Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I A Woman?" (1863)
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100 SAT words Beginning with "S"
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"Common Sense," Vocabulary from the pamphlet
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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.
Assassination attempts can also warp how journalists cover a president’s opposition, and subdue how that opposition behaves.
From Slate • Apr. 26, 2026
One comic gimmick involves Appa’s superhuman grip that can subdue even the mightiest of men.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
They are just data brokers doing business, they say, and it’s not their fault if what they gather and sell is used to subdue and surveil people.
From Salon • Feb. 20, 2026
Fern, whose pen name wouldn’t be widely familiar until 1851, was a bright and spirited girl whose time at a religious school failed to subdue her.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026
Dad tried to corral her, to subdue her with a show of anger, the way he always had, but this only made her more stubborn.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
