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
City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
Trump thought the Secret Service did an excellent job subduing the gunman but the White House is reviewing security for major events for the country's 250th anniversary.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026
The defense was more than satisfactory in subduing the league’s top offense.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 19 Apr. 2026
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
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
Officers then shot her with a Taser, subduing her enough to take her into custody, police said.
—City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
Trump thought the Secret Service did an excellent job subduing the gunman but the White House is reviewing security for major events for the country's 250th anniversary.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026
The defense was more than satisfactory in subduing the league’s top offense.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 19 Apr. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subduing
Noun
-
Note the mention of Hemingway here (talk about a white person going up against brown skinned people in his conquests and exploitations).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
-
Depicting the Norman conquest of England 1100 years ago, the Bayeux tapestry is an astonishing 230 feet long and, according to the British Museum, features 58 scenes, each rendered in colored wool embroidery on flax.—
Anne Doran,
ARTnews.com,
14 May 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
-
Wearing a navy blue suit with an American flag pinned on the lapel, a low-energy Weinstein appeared unemotional as White delivered her opening remarks.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
21 Apr. 2026
-
High performers are taught to be objective, efficient, and unemotional.—
Archana Shrestha,
Time,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Trump has not endorsed a candidate, raising the likelihood of a June 16 runoff that would burn more time and money before the party can focus on defeating Ossoff.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
-
Darby Allin defended his AEW World Championship twice in one week, defeating Konosuke Takeshita and Sammy Guevara.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
For a successful but not world-conquering rapper like Rashad, making a living relies on making sure that fans continue to feel connected to him.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
-
Built by Blueprint Construction with structural engineering by Design Point, the East River Residence demonstrates that conquering challenging terrain sometimes means floating above it.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
23 Apr. 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
-
With such a dominating presence in the first three seasons of the PWHL, the Frost brass expects their roster to be raided.—
Theodore Tollefson,
Twin Cities,
14 May 2026
-
Local leaders say changes in water flow have also contributed to the crisis, with freshwater now dominating areas where saltwater once helped suppress or kill Hydrilla verticillata.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
The Louisiana native told me that overcoming his native cuisine was half the battle in that redshirt year.—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
-
The biggest obstacle was overcoming low expectations.—
Zoya Hasan,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Subduing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subduing. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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