vanquish
Americanverb (used with object)
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vanquishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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vanquished,
past participle, past
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vanquishing
present participle
verb
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to defeat or overcome in a battle, contest, etc; conquer
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to defeat or overcome in argument or debate
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to conquer (an emotion)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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vanquishernoun
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vanquishmentnoun
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unvanquishableadjective
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unvanquishedadjective
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unvanquishingadjective
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vanquishableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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vanquishsimple
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vanquishessimple
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have vanquishedperfect
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has vanquishedperfect
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am vanquishingprogressive
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are vanquishingprogressive
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is vanquishingprogressive
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have been vanquishingperfect progressive
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has been vanquishingperfect progressive
Past
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vanquishedsimple
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had vanquishedperfect
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was vanquishingprogressive
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were vanquishingprogressive
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had been vanquishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of vanquish
1300–50; Middle English vencuschen, venquisshen < Old French vencus past participle and venquis past tense of veintre < Latin vincere to overcome
Explanation
To vanquish is to be the complete and total winner, to overpower and overcome, whether in a contest, a race, or a war. It generally suggests a total trouncing, to the point of humiliation — or worse — for the loser. Sometimes words for the same thing are effective in different ways because they offer different levels of meaning. For example, in a game, you can simply win, or you can vanquish your opponent. The former is enough, but the latter makes that defeat sound so much worse, like a total rout. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once stated, "Against war it may be said that it makes the victor stupid and the vanquished revengeful."
Vocabulary lists containing vanquish
Grade 10, List 1
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The Tragedy of Macbeth
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
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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:
Warsh has vowed the Fed will vanquish inflation and meet its 2% goal, but Wall Street investors have grown more doubtful.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
The militias emerged during the U.S. occupation of Iraq and later helped the U.S. vanquish Islamic State.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Martin writes in “The Hedge Knight” that Aerion “could vanquish Ser Duncan the Tall, but not Dunk of Flea Bottom.”
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2026
One of these companies has a slightly more tolerable vision than the rest, although it’s fair to question whether any one of these ideals could ever vanquish the others.
From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2026
She could, if she wished, vanquish all this color.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
For instance, in one scene in the Depardieu film, Cyrano duels and vanquishes a vicomte who insults his nose.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2022
In the end, the BSC vanquishes the BSA by, essentially, tattling on them to the town’s parents.
From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2020
The sequel, which George P. Cosmatos directed, vanquishes any trace of interiority and tripled the original’s domestic gross.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2020
The verse in Crimp’s woos and vanquishes just as seductively, though the leaner verse couples of rap battles and poetry slams.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 13, 2020
His contempt for abstract speculation comes out when he vanquishes Berkeley,29 not with a grin, but by 'striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone.'
From Hours in a Library New Edition, with Additions. Vol. II (of 3) by Sir Leslie Stephen
When wealthy Southern planters in Savannah, Ga., were vanquished in 1864, their land did not go to their former slaves, and while “slavery was gone, share-cropping re-created some of the core features of the system.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
The people of New York vanquished him with none of the spite he has spent decades sowing, but with grace, love, and pride in their city.
From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026
But before it was vanquished, the blaze chewed through about a third of the island, one of five that comprise Channel Islands National Park.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
The diet culture of the ’90s was never totally vanquished, and Ozempic has complicated narratives about body size, health, and self-love, to put it mildly.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026
This spirit often turned the victors into the vanquished.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
As the play opens he is returning to Rome as a lauded hero, having led the city’s forces in vanquishing the Goths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
The work represents "the vanquishing of nuclear war through the historic treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States", according to the UN website.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2025
The driving forces of the moment are fixated less on enlightenment than on attacking, distorting and vanquishing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
Yet, in a world marked by scientific uncertainty, the promise of "a cure" as a magic elixir is the ultimate expression of science vanquishing the bad enemy.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2023
After the vanquishing of the dragon, there was a feast in the great hall.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
