as in conquest
the act or process of bringing someone or something under one's control
the subduing of the wild horse was accomplished by a method reputedly used by Plains Indians
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in noninflammatory
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in unemotional
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
1
as in defeating
to achieve a victory over
subdued her fear of the dark by joining a club for spelunkers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in conquering
to bring under one's control by force of arms
subdued the rebels and sent their leaders to the gallows
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in quelling
to put a stop to (something) by the use of force
labored through the night to subdue the river's rising waters by building a wall of sandbags around their property
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of subduing
Barak Mendelsohn, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2016
Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2026
There, the pioneers—practical, inventive, restless, exuberant white men—clashed with Indigenous peoples, subduing them and a wilderness filled with wild animals and abundant natural resources.
—Literary Hub, 1 Apr. 2026
Multiple officers were involved in subduing Guity and placing him in handcuffs, police said.
—Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 14 Jan. 2026
As the representative for the armed wing of a human empire, you're tasked with subduing these Lovecraftian abominations and securing a foothold for humanity on alien worlds.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 5 Jan. 2026
The past two months of mostly sideways churn within 3% of record highs for the S & P 500 has helped to rebalance the market, puncturing the aggressive sense of destiny around many AI plays, subduing some speculative misbehavior and allowing valuations to settle.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 20 Dec. 2025
The Giants won in all kinds of encouraging ways while subduing the wild-card-leading Cubs in a 5-2 victory Tuesday night.
—Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
The two also showed a demonstration of what a K9 takedown looks like, with Humphries acting as a target and K9 Bob subduing him.
—Richard Requena, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
Empowered but often improperly trained Israelis fearful of any Palestinian-looking individual, ended up killing, instead of subduing, attackers, which further inflamed tensions.
—Barak Mendelsohn, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2016
Verb
Mario himself is played mostly straight by Pratt, subduing the exaggerated Italian accent from the games, while retaining the underdog aspect of a blue collar guy burdened with greater purpose.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2026
There, the pioneers—practical, inventive, restless, exuberant white men—clashed with Indigenous peoples, subduing them and a wilderness filled with wild animals and abundant natural resources.
—Literary Hub, 1 Apr. 2026
Multiple officers were involved in subduing Guity and placing him in handcuffs, police said.
—Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 14 Jan. 2026
As the representative for the armed wing of a human empire, you're tasked with subduing these Lovecraftian abominations and securing a foothold for humanity on alien worlds.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 5 Jan. 2026
The past two months of mostly sideways churn within 3% of record highs for the S & P 500 has helped to rebalance the market, puncturing the aggressive sense of destiny around many AI plays, subduing some speculative misbehavior and allowing valuations to settle.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 20 Dec. 2025
The Giants won in all kinds of encouraging ways while subduing the wild-card-leading Cubs in a 5-2 victory Tuesday night.
—Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
The two also showed a demonstration of what a K9 takedown looks like, with Humphries acting as a target and K9 Bob subduing him.
—Richard Requena, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subduing
Noun
-
Colorado’s regular-season conquest of the Western Conference will have to wait.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Public murals endorsed settler narratives of conquest, racial hierarchy, and resource exploitation.—
John P. Murphy,
ARTnews.com,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Mineral formulas also tend to be fragrance-free, noncomedogenic, and noninflammatory, says Dr. Engelman.—
Brigitt Earley,
Glamour,
21 Feb. 2024
-
Burgum, 67 years old and known for a casual style and noninflammatory rhetoric, was never a significant presence in the race.—
John McCormick,
WSJ,
5 Dec. 2023
Adjective
-
While Clark was prone to long, unwieldy answers to questions, Meyer is pretty concise and unemotional in his responses.—
Barry M. Bloom,
Forbes.com,
22 Feb. 2026
-
The reason why is that all of their star players behaved like Aztec alumnus Kawhi Leonard: unemotional, robotic freaks who do not care about anything other than basketball.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Head coach Dusty May of the Michigan Wolverines hoists the trophy after defeating the UConn Huskies 69-63 in the national championship of the 2026 NCAA men's basketball tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis, Indiana.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
-
The UConn Huskies men’s basketball team is headed back to the national championship game for the third time in the last four years after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini, 71-62, in the Final Four.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
After conquering the internet underground, perhaps Yeat believes that stadium status is all that’s left.—
Mosi Reeves,
Rolling Stone,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Instilling any notion of a more general intelligence in a machine will be a far more challenging problem than conquering even Go.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Government forces brought reinforcements into Suqaylabiyah, quelling the violence.—
Omar Albam,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2026
-
In December, the Mouse House pledged to invest $1 billion in OpenAI and entered a three-year licensing agreement for allowing over 200 Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars characters’ likenesses to be used in Sora, quelling some of the text-to-video app’s brushups with copyright law.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
No double-digit lead is safe because anyone can go on a dominating run, as Michigan and UConn both did on Sunday.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
31 Mar. 2026
-
After spending last season dominating in South Korea and the three prior seasons in Japan, Ponce earned his way back to Major League Baseball this offseason with the defending American League champions, who gave him a $30 million contract over the next three years.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
That would involve changing some state laws, persuading housing lenders to be more accommodating and overcoming resistance from construction unions.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
3 Apr. 2026
-
There is power in prevention, which makes overcoming these obstacles crucial.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Subduing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subduing. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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