tame
changed from the wild or savage state; domesticated: a tame bear.
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.
spiritless or pusillanimous.
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.
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.
to become tame.
Origin of tame
1Other words for tame
Opposites for tame
Other words from tame
- tame·ly, adverb
- tame·ness, noun
- tam·er, noun
- o·ver·tame, adjective
- o·ver·tame·ly, adverb
- o·ver·tame·ness, noun
- un·tame, adjective
- un·tame·ly, adverb
- un·tame·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tame in a sentence
The Oscar winner talks about his oddest jobs, his cooking hobby, James Bond—and taming lions.
Christopher Walken on ‘Seven Psychopaths,’ Natalie Wood, & More | Marlow Stern | October 12, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTHe has dreams of clearing the jungle, straightening its rivers, taming the wild animals.
American Dreams: ‘The Mosquito Coast’ by Paul Theroux | Nathaniel Rich | September 20, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTTaming these institutions and curbing their excesses should be a task for a renewed Labour Party.
One female customer told us that we saved her marriage by successfully taming her philandering husband.
One could get the feeling that Washington and other governments will be taming the markets.
He felt the atmosphere of the little society, and acknowledged that it was “taming the savage beast.”
The Daughters of Danaus | Mona CairdHe did not need taming, for he was tame from the beginning, as it never entered into his head that anyone could be unkind to him.
The Animal Story Book | VariousAnd then in the second chapel on the right is a lovely Sienese Madonna, and a strange fresco on the left wall of men taming bulls.
Florence and Northern Tuscany with Genoa | Edward HuttonThe literature on the taming of animals, the education of juveniles and adults, and on social control belongs in this field.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology | Robert E. ParkBut her eagerness, her hunted wild-bird air only stirred in McNab a lust for the capture and taming of her.
The Pioneers | Katharine Susannah Prichard
British Dictionary definitions for tame
/ (teɪm) /
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
to make tame; domesticate
to break the spirit of, subdue, or curb
to tone down, soften, or mitigate
Origin of tame
1Derived forms of tame
- tamable or tameable, adjective
- tamability, tameability, tamableness or tameableness, noun
- tameless, adjective
- tamely, adverb
- tameness, noun
- tamer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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