tame

adjective \ ˈtām \

Definition of tame

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

See tame defined for English-language learners

See tame defined for kids

Examples of tame in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of tame from the Web

By the early ‘90s, though, it had already been delayed and reworked to be a relatively tame riff on teen slasher horror.

— daniel starkey, Ars Technica, "Accidental history—remastering the campy teen horror game Congress famously hated," 20 Aug. 2017
The water boils and looks rather tame from a distance but up close the hydraulics are incredibly powerful and moving in all directions.

— rich landers, idahostatesman, "3 adventurers paddle their boards down the Spokane River to its confluence with the Columbia," 14 Aug. 2017
Dumb luck clung to me like a wet T-shirt that summer, and the darker side of the festival manifested itself to me in relatively tame ways.

— ella alexander, Longreads, "Who I Became at the Running of the Bulls," 12 July 2017
In an off-season filled with wild transactions, this one would actually be relatively tame.

— rohan nadkarni, SI.com, "Why Nick Young Makes Sense On The Warriors," 2 July 2017
A thickening spray can be used all over your head before drying. 2: Use a styling product Styling creams and oils—especially those specifically made for blow-drying—can fight frizz, protect against heat damage, and tame flyaways.

— rebecca dolan, Esquire, "If You Want a Hair God-Level Flow, You Need a Blow Dryer," 29 June 2017
To be sure, Anthony Kiedis, Flea and company are far tamer compared to their outrageous tube sock days.

— piet levy, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "The Red Hot Chili Peppers pack a punch at Summerfest 50 kickoff," 29 June 2017
Gone are her days of twerking in mouse buns, crystalized semi-nude bodysuits, and prosthetic breasts, and in their place a much more tame, folksy Miley has emerged.

— emily kirkpatrick, PEOPLE.com, "Miley Cyrus Welcomes in Summer with Fruit, SPF, and a Little, Red Two-Piece," 22 June 2017
And just look at how this new hair color ramps up the style of his very solid but kinda tame summer fit.

— liza corsillo, GQ, "Damn, Steve Carrell Makes Us Want Gray Hair," 21 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tame.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of tame

Middle English, from Old English tam; akin to Old High German zam tame, Latin domare to tame, Greek damnanai

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

tame Synonyms

Synonyms

domestic, domesticated, tamed

Antonyms

feral, nondomesticated, savage, undomesticated, untamed, wild

Related Words

broken, halterbroken, housebroken, trained; docile, familiar, gentle, semidomesticated; subdued, submissive

Near Antonyms

unbroken, untrained; wildish

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

apiary, bantam, calico, girth, hogwash, mast, rut

tame

verb

Definition of tame

tamed; taming

transitive verb

1 a :to reduce from a wild to a domestic state

b :to subject to cultivation

c :to bring under control :harness

2 :to deprive of spirit :humble, subdue

the once revolutionary … party, long since tamed
—The Times Literary Supplement (London)

3 :to tone down :soften

tamed the language in the play

intransitive verb

:to become tame

—

tamable

or tameable play \ˈtā-mə-bəl\ adjective

—

tamer

noun

See tame defined for English-language learners

Examples of tame in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of tame from the Web

The administration has been tamed by working through Congress.

— The Economist, "The outlines of NAFTA 2 emerge," 20 July 2017
Another approach to taming the donor graft relies on a mixture of anti–T cell anti-bodies called antithymocyte globulin, which is produced in horses or rabbits.

— jon cohen, Science | AAAS, "A stem cell transplant helped beat back a young doctor’s cancer. Now, it’s assaulting his body," 12 July 2017
Her goal is to tame neural networks by engineering predictability into them.

— paul voosen, Science | AAAS, "How AI detectives are cracking open the black box of deep learning," 6 July 2017
These were the leaders among the pioneers that came to the wilderness and tamed it.

— Cincinnati.com, "Column: Pioneers tamed wilderness to give us Ohio, Kentucky," 28 June 2017
But those areas, while gorgeous, are all tamed by man.

— jamie hale, OregonLive.com, "The last wild stretch of the Columbia River, found at scenic Hanford Reach," 27 June 2017
The ace right-hander and first-round MLB draft pick tamed the Horned Frogs again and ended their season Saturday night on the doorstep of the CWS championship series.

— carlos mendez, star-telegram.com, "Florida ace halts TCU one game short of College World Series finals," 24 June 2017
Through bankruptcy, new owners, recipe changes and an increase in competition, the Merlino name still rings familiar to locals and tourists alike looking to tame the sweltering summer heat.

— alexandra yoon-hendricks, sacbee.com, "The freeze is still cool – Merlino’s keeps summer heat at bay and tradition alive," 20 June 2017
Environmental and social resilience should go hand in hand, officials here think, improving neighborhoods, spreading equity and taming water during catastrophes.

— the new york times, NOLA.com, "The Dutch teach Louisiana, others, how to cope with rising sea," 16 June 2017

First Known Use of tame

13th century

tame Synonyms

Synonyms

bridle, check, constrain, contain, curb, govern, hold, inhibit, keep, measure, pull in, regulate, rein (in), restrain, rule, control

Antonyms

lose

Related Words

bottle (up), choke (back), hold back, mince, muffle, pocket, repress, sink, smother, squelch, stifle, strangle, suppress, swallow; arrest, interrupt, stop; block, hamper, handcuff, hinder, impede, obstruct; gag, muzzle, silence

Near Antonyms

liberate, loose, loosen, unleash; air, express, take out, vent

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

apiary, bantam, calico, girth, hogwash, mast, rut

TAME Defined for English Language Learners

tame

adjective

Definition of tame for English Language Learners

: not wild : trained to obey people
: not afraid of people
: not exciting or interesting

tame

verb

Definition of tame for English Language Learners

: to make (an animal) tame
: to make (something) less wild or difficult to control : to bring (something) under control

TAME Defined for Kids

tame

adjective \ ˈtām \

Definition of tame for Students

tamer; tamest

1 :changed from the wild state so as to become useful and obedient to people :domestic

a tame elephant

2 :not afraid of people

The chipmunks at the park are very tame.

3 :not interesting :dull

a tame movie

—

tamely

adverb

tame

verb

Definition of tame for Students

tamed; taming

:to make or become gentle or obedient

They tamed the lion.

—

tamer

noun

Learn More about tame

See words that rhyme with tame Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for tame Spanish Central: Translation of tame Nglish: Translation of tame for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of tame for Arabic speakers

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Definition of tame

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Origin and Etymology of tame

tame Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

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Other Animal Husbandry Terms

tame

Definition of tame

tamable

tamer

Examples of tame in a Sentence

Recent Examples of tame from the Web

First Known Use of tame

tame Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

TAME Defined for English Language Learners

tame

Definition of tame for English Language Learners

tame

Definition of tame for English Language Learners

TAME Defined for Kids

tame

Definition of tame for Students

tamely

tame

Definition of tame for Students

tamer

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