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
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
There is a problem, though, and it comes from the unlikelihood that OpenAI or Anthropic will ever vanquish the other.
From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2026
They vanquish carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, a gas of which I am very fond.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
ALBUS: “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...”
From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling
For instance, in one scene in the Depardieu film, Cyrano duels and vanquishes a vicomte who insults his nose.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2022
“Do I have it in me?” she asks aloud with Fältskog, and in that moment, their merger vanquishes uncertainty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2021
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
The only thing I didn’t like about Near Dark at the time was its ending: Caleb vanquishes Jesse and Severen and manages to reverse the vampirism afflicting him and Mae by transfusing his father’s blood.
From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2017
For such a Crow vanquishes without much trouble eagles, goshawks, shrikes, gerfalcons, sparrow-hawks.
From Flemish Legends by Coster, Charles de
Misinterpreting his ghostly prophecy—“Macbeth shall never vanquished be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him”—the usurping Scottish king believed his reign was secure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Once the slave power had been vanquished, the Reconstruction Congress sought to enshrine birthright citizenship in the Constitution so it could never be stripped away again.
From Slate ● Jun. 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
Iger vanquished the proxy challenge, and this week, he again defended the Fox purchase, which gave Disney control of streaming service Hulu, National Geographic channels and FX.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
Anthropologically speaking, the trailer park would be preferable, but here I have a gleaming white floor and a firm mattress, and the few resident bugs are easily vanquished.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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
However, once Hernán Cortés triumphed, the conquistadors went from waging war — vanquishing the Aztecs — to the project of subjugating Indigenous holdouts and building a self-sustaining territory loyal to the crown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026
The demand for justice for a woman resonates with Durga Puja anyway, a festival built around a goddess vanquishing evil.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2024
The combination of easing inflation and sturdy hiring and GDP growth has raised hopes the Fed can pull off a rare “soft landing” — vanquishing inflation without causing a recession.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
He committed the United States to vanquishing the dictators who would deprive others of their freedom.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
