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
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Dissimilar Words
2
as in unemotional
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Dissimilar Words
1
as in defeating
to achieve a victory over
subdued her fear of the dark by joining a club for spelunkers
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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
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
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
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subduing
Noun
-
The French Revolution, coming so soon after America’s successful War of Independence, had produced first the Terror and then a war of conquest that culminated in humiliating defeat.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Painted over by the joy that came when her teammates rushed the court to celebrate her conquest.—
Buddy Collings,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 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
-
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
-
Meursault’s callousness toward the world — his calm and unemotional demeanor at his mother’s death, his seeming inability to show grief or regret or passion or even anger in just about any circumstance — becomes the focal point of his trial and of the novel itself.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Swalwell won his congressional race, defeating a 40-year incumbent more than double his age, and grew his national profile by connecting with young voters on social media.—
Allison Gordon,
CNN Money,
4 May 2026
-
In all, according to a tally from AdImpact, nearly $7 million has been spent on TV ads this year in Indiana state senate races, the bulk of it aimed at defeating the Republicans who voted against the redrawn congressional maps.—
Tamara Keith,
NPR,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
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
-
One after another, the avatars of Democratic success in Georgia took the stage Saturday and were greeted like conquering heroes by hundreds of party faithful at the annual Carter-Lewis gala.—
Greg Bluestein,
AJC.com,
12 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
-
Despite dominating possession – the Quakes finished with a 37-6 edge in shots – the Black and Blue weren’t able to equalize until Jasinski’s towering header off a corner kick from Niko Tsakiris in the 57th minute.—
Harold Gutmann,
Mercury News,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Brimming with confidence, Palencia then emerged as the dominating closer during Team Venezuela’s emotional run to a World Baseball Classic title.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
More Than One Way to Survive in Business Entrepreneurs have been positioned to accept that overcoming the competition is the only way to succeed in business, but there may be other paths forward.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
1 May 2026
-
The Blackbeard project aims to achieve all this while overcoming the obstacles that have hindered previous attempts at hypersonic weaponry.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Subduing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subduing. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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