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:
They managed to "tame" the microbe in the laboratory and make it fix N2 at temperatures above 90 °C.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
That makes it seem so tame, but it’s so, so frightening.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
On a ground where he has had plenty of previous success, he muscled the ball through the leg side before he offered a tame return catch to Razaullah.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Launching a fleet of Cybercabs across Tesla’s three markets in Texas could push shares up, while a more tame event would likely do the opposite, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Obinze had never made as much of an effort as he did the rest of the day to seem normal, to tame the rage that was engulfing him.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"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
Looking ahead: “The catch-up consumer spending and inflation data for October and November paint a picture of robust consumer spending amid tamer inflation,” Kathy Bostjancic, Nationwide chief economist, said in a note to clients.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 22, 2026
Its energy plan last year unveiled a tamer goal: it wants nuclear power to provide 20% of its electricity needs by 2040.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
The fact of the matter is Lowe was operating in extreme circumstances, while Bullock’s outlook is far tamer and guidance would be useful and well-received.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
And who after all is the more amazing, the lion or the tamer?
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
“They took the tamest, nicest goats that would have come up to them,” said Dan Drake, the owner of Drake Family Farms in Ontario.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 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
As long as an interpretation follows a story’s spirit as it tames sprawling storylines into narratives we can wrap our heads around, people are willing to forgive a great deal.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2024
Also: If you can temporarily assume other tasks for him as he tames his stress, that would be an act of good faith.
From Washington Post ● May 1, 2023
Much will depend on whether the Federal Reserve tames inflation, whether the U.S. enters a recession and unpredictable geopolitical events.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 11, 2023
This means that he becomes master of purely physical force in man; he tames it.
From Christianity As Mystical Fact And The Mysteries of Antiquity by Harry Collison
A dribble of mignonette barely tamed their muscular salinity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 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
His reasoning: The gains wouldn’t show in official data for years, so a Fed that waited for the numbers would mistake a benign boom for overheating and tighten—killing the growth that would have tamed prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Only if I tamed him could I possibly trick him into dying first, if we had to come to that sorry business.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
On top of that, further rate hikes aimed at taming inflation also risk slowing down the economy.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
For Bengio, taming AI's advance is "an international challenge, a bit like nuclear weapons are an international challenge."
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song warned against falling behind on taming inflation, signaling urgency for policymakers to act.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song warned against falling behind the curve on taming inflation, signaling growing urgency for policymakers to act before it is too late.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
How could I explain to Anatole about soybean fields where men sat in huge tractors like kings on thrones, taming the soil from one horizon to the other?
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
