tamer; tamest
1
: reduced from a state of native wildness especially so as to be tractable and useful to humans : domesticated
tame animals
2
: made docile and submissive : subdued
3
: lacking spirit, zest, interest, or the capacity to excite : insipid
a tame campaign
tamely
adverb
tameness
noun
tamed; taming
1
a
: to reduce from a wild to a domestic state
b
: to subject to cultivation
c
: to bring under control : harness
2
3
: to tone down : soften
tamed the language in the play
: to become tame
tamer
noun
Synonyms
Examples of tame in a Sentence
Adjective
The island's birds are quite tame.
They ran a pretty tame campaign.
Some people were shocked by the movie, but I found the story pretty tame.
Members of the audience were too tame to interrupt the speaker.
Verb
It took a while to tame the horse.
the people who tamed the Wild West
He struggled to tame his temper.
The government needs to do something to tame inflation.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Enjanae' Taylor, Southern Living, 21 Nov. 2023
That meeting would be one of the tamer negotiation sessions.
—Jeanne Whalen, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2023
Or they’re viewed on the zoo’s live camera doing tame activities like sunning themselves or enjoying an icy treat on a warm day.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
While there are ingredients that help tame oils, there are also those that exacerbate them.
—Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 12 Sep. 2023
This is one of the tamer creations among a broader scallion pancake reimagining.
—Cathy Erway, Bon Appétit, 5 Sep. 2023
California’s wildfires have been relatively tame this year, burning through about 316,000 acres so far, compared with a five-year average of 1.57 million acres by this point in the year.
—Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2023
Americans, especially wealthy ones, are still spending big And while the job market may be showing some signs of cooling — fewer job openings and tamer wage growth than earlier in the pandemic — there’s been nothing resembling massive layoffs or rising unemployment.
—Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2023
Senator Pushback By the fall of 2021, when Dr. Sutton started running the tamer version of his studies, the debate over Covid’s origins had intensified.
—Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2023
Joel Khalili, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2023
But something in the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation — two peoples located at the nexus of places holy to Judaism, Islam and Christianity — imbues the conflict with a peculiarly ferocious charge resistant to every attempt to tame its potency.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2023
Inflation in the United States slowed last month, suggesting that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have tamed price spikes that have burdened weighed on Americans for the past two years.
—Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023
Inflation eased in October amid lower prices for gasoline and cars, signaling that the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes are continuing to tame the run-up in consumer prices hurting Americans' pocketbooks.
—CBS News, 14 Nov. 2023
This has inspired hope the pact could endure — taming rising temperatures is impossible without more aggressive action from both nations, which together account for nearly two-fifths of planet-heating gases.
—E&e News, Scientific American, 15 Nov. 2023
For example, Teresa Mears, of Fort Lauderdale, purchased a $200 robot vacuum in 2016 to help tame the fur from her four cats.
—Laura Daily, Washington Post, 6 Nov. 2023
Their frizz was regularly tamed and the hair oil nourished their sometimes dry ends.
—Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 3 Nov. 2023
But its policymakers have flagged the risk that stronger growth could keep inflation persistently high and require further rate hikes to quell it.
Since March 2022, the central bank has raised its key rate from near zero to roughly 5.4% in a concerted drive to tame inflation.
—Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2023
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Adjective
Made for all hair types, the products increase shine, tame frizz, and hydrate hair.
—Enjanae' Taylor, Southern Living, 21 Nov. 2023
That meeting would be one of the tamer negotiation sessions.
—Jeanne Whalen, Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2023
Or they’re viewed on the zoo’s live camera doing tame activities like sunning themselves or enjoying an icy treat on a warm day.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
While there are ingredients that help tame oils, there are also those that exacerbate them.
—Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 12 Sep. 2023
This is one of the tamer creations among a broader scallion pancake reimagining.
—Cathy Erway, Bon Appétit, 5 Sep. 2023
California’s wildfires have been relatively tame this year, burning through about 316,000 acres so far, compared with a five-year average of 1.57 million acres by this point in the year.
—Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2023
Americans, especially wealthy ones, are still spending big And while the job market may be showing some signs of cooling — fewer job openings and tamer wage growth than earlier in the pandemic — there’s been nothing resembling massive layoffs or rising unemployment.
—Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2023
Senator Pushback By the fall of 2021, when Dr. Sutton started running the tamer version of his studies, the debate over Covid’s origins had intensified.
—Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2023
Verb
Binance would have been an enormous coup for the DOJ, which has signaled a desire—along with US regulatory agencies—to tame the crypto industry.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2023
But something in the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation — two peoples located at the nexus of places holy to Judaism, Islam and Christianity — imbues the conflict with a peculiarly ferocious charge resistant to every attempt to tame its potency.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2023
Inflation in the United States slowed last month, suggesting that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have tamed price spikes that have burdened weighed on Americans for the past two years.
—Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023
Inflation eased in October amid lower prices for gasoline and cars, signaling that the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes are continuing to tame the run-up in consumer prices hurting Americans' pocketbooks.
—CBS News, 14 Nov. 2023
This has inspired hope the pact could endure — taming rising temperatures is impossible without more aggressive action from both nations, which together account for nearly two-fifths of planet-heating gases.
—E&e News, Scientific American, 15 Nov. 2023
For example, Teresa Mears, of Fort Lauderdale, purchased a $200 robot vacuum in 2016 to help tame the fur from her four cats.
—Laura Daily, Washington Post, 6 Nov. 2023
Their frizz was regularly tamed and the hair oil nourished their sometimes dry ends.
—Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 3 Nov. 2023
But its policymakers have flagged the risk that stronger growth could keep inflation persistently high and require further rate hikes to quell it.
Since March 2022, the central bank has raised its key rate from near zero to roughly 5.4% in a concerted drive to tame inflation.
—Christopher Rugaber, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tame.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English, from Old English tam; akin to Old High German zam tame, Latin domare to tame, Greek damnanai
First Known Use
Adjective
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of tame was
before the 12th century
Dictionary Entries Near tame
Cite this Entry
“Tame.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tame. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
tame
1 of 2 adjective
tamer; tamest
1
: changed from the wild state so as to become useful and obedient to human beings : domesticated
a tame elephant
2
: made gentle and obedient
3
: lacking spirit or interest : dull
tamely
adverb
tameness
noun
tame
2 of 2 verb
tamed; taming
1
a
: to make or become tame
tame a lion
b
: to subject to cultivation
wilderness tamed by farmers
2
: to bring under control : subdue
tame your temper
tamer
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on tame
Nglish: Translation of tame for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of tame for Arabic Speakers
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