tame

1 of 2

adjective

ˈtām 

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

tame

2 of 2

verb

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 adjective

or tameable

ˈtā-mə-bəl 

tamer noun

Synonyms

Adjective

• domestic
• domesticated
• tamed

Verb

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

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.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

After returning to Highland Safaris, walk to the adjacent Red Deer Center to meet a barn owl and feed members of a tame red-deer herd. —Catherine Garcia, theweek, 31 Oct. 2024

Separate figures Friday showed no change in a gauge of prices paid to producers in September, suggesting further progress toward tamer inflation. —Shawn Tully, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2024

Verb

Conclusion While the Fed’s efforts to tame runaway inflation rates has helped market sentiments in the past, its recent hawkish outlook for 2025 is now worrying investors. —Trefis Team, Forbes, 24 Dec. 2024

Sad to say, each of these phobias have been exploited by corporate and government interests to cut down forests in a cynical ploy to tame wild nature. —Josh Schlossberg, The Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2024

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

Kids Definition

tame

1 of 2 adjective

ˈtām 

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