tame
Americanadjective
-
tamer,
comparative
-
tamest
superlative
-
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)
-
tames,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tamed,
past participle, past
-
taming
present participle
-
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)
-
tames,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tamed,
past participle, past
-
taming
present participle
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
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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:
Market watchers voiced concerns that the measure in itself won’t be sufficient to tame the rise in yields over the long term.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Military helicopters backed by tractors on the ground hauled water Sunday to help firefighters tame Belgium's largest modern-day wildfire, which mushroomed in size since breaking out two days earlier in a hard-to-access nature reserve.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Lucy Roche, volunteer branch leader for Cat Action Trust 1977, external, came across the ginger cat, called Ginge, while caring for a feral colony in Garforth, and noticed he was very tame.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
If the Tisza majority expects Baka to be a tame president, they may get a rude awakening.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 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
"Opting people in by default is not consent," a user said in one of the tamer responses to Twitch's announcement on X.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
I’ll always prefer Mom’s barbecued chicken, fried chicken and French fries, but I have branched out, trying an array of new, relatively tamer foods, ranging from albacore tuna to zucchini.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
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
Castor, tamer of horses, Polydeuces, good as a boxer.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Probably the tamest of Harbaugh’s regular phrases, the coach’s final words in each pregame speech stick with Pipkins the most.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2024
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
At one of the tamest venues you'll find for a major championship, Mickelson labored to a four-over score, 14 shots back of 36-hole leader Gary Woodland and four shots out of the cut.
From Golf Digest ● Aug. 11, 2018
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
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
Love tames them, and as each movie goes on, they go from being utterly ridiculous to having only vague hints of a sense of wonder.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2022
Goïta, the 39-year-old special forces officer acting as Mali’s president, said the election should be postponed until the military tames the conflict.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 2022
Grief softens hearts, and curbs the will, Impetuous passion tames, And keeps insatiate, keen desire From launching in extremes.
From The Poetical Works of Edward Young, Volume 2 by Edward Young
The good news is that we figured out how to edit the code of life with Crispr and tamed sickle-cell disease and hepatitis C. We did the scientific heavy lifting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
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
If housing inflation doesn’t cooperate, it leaves officials without much hope that inflationary pressures can be tamed in the near-term.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
He went right down the center, where the part would have been if the Brillo pad could have been tamed, then settled both hands on his hips.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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
WSJ | Buy Side: Anker’s multiport charger keeps everything powered while taming cables.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 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
During the time that I was taming the birds, I made another skirt.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
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.
