Synonyms of submissive

submissive

adjective

səb-ˈmi-siv 

as in obedient

readily giving in to the command or authority of another

it's not in her nature to be submissive

Synonyms & Similar Words

• obedient
• compliant
• docile
• restrained
• tractable
• biddable
• meek
• gentle
• conformable
• amenable
• repressed
• soft
• decorous
• controllable
• subordinate
• acquiescent
• tame
• servile
• law-abiding
• dutiful
• subservient
• amiable
• obliging
• obsequious
• agreeable
• surrendering
• slavish
• fawning
• orderly
• governable
• duteous
• yielding
• disciplined
• constrained
• mannerly
• mild
• placable
• manageable
• inhibited
• teachable
• obeisant
• trainable
• kowtowing
• handleable
• curbed
• disciplinable

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• defiant
• rebellious
• disobedient
• willful
• unruly
• refractory
• contrary
• recalcitrant
• restive
• wayward
• contumacious
• stubborn
• insubordinate
• noncompliant
• intractable
• rebel
• obstinate
• headstrong
• mutinous
• ungovernable
• obstreperous
• wild
• unyielding
• untoward
• balky
• defiant
• uncontrollable
• obdurate
• insurgent
• hardheaded
• resistant
• peevish
• unmanageable
• mulish
• naughty
• dogged
• froward
• perverse
• unamenable
• mischievous
• bad
• self-willed
• pigheaded
• incompliant
• disorderly
• undisciplined
• balky
• insolent
• errant
• impudent
• dissident
• disrespectful
• nonconformist
• rude
• impolite
• misbehaving
• ill-bred
• ill-mannered

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of submissive

Participants will gain skills to develop mutual trust, respect, and mindfulness between Dominant and submissive. — Rachel Del Guidice, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2026

The original plot centered on the arrival of a submissive, quiet mail-order bride and her father from China, who sneaked into the country to marry a nightclub owner who had no idea that his mother had brought the girl over for him. — Marla Jo Fisher, Daily News, 4 May 2026

Miranda’s latest submissive prince-consort boyfriend is played by Kenneth Branagh, bizarrely the lead violinist in a string quartet. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2026

The project, which premiered at Sundance in January, is a zany and absurd exploration of a dominant-submissive relationship. — Juliana Ukiomogbe, InStyle, 3 Mar. 2026