Dictionary

subdue en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /sʌb-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /səbˈdu/ (General-American)
• /səbˈdʒuː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /səbˈdjuː/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English subdewen, subduen, sodewen, from Old French souduire, from Latin subdūcō (“to draw away”), perhaps influenced by subdō (“to subdue, subject”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To overcome, quieten, or bring under control.
   • “It's like the opposite of punk, isn't it?” he said jokingly in 2016 while discussing his influence on other musicians. “I've subdued a generation.” But [James] Blake is not so quiescent after all. 2025 June 14, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, “James Blake’s fight against ‘free music’”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 12:
   • Gary Cahill, a target for Arsenal and Tottenham before the transfer window closed, put England ahead early on and Rooney was on target twice before the interval as the early hostility of the Bulgarian supporters was swiftly subdued. 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC:
   • And when their ſcattered armie is ſubdu’d: And you march on their ſlaughtered carkaſſes, Share equally the gold that bought their liues, And liue like Gentlmen in Perſea, […] c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
2. (transitive) To bring (a country) under control by force.
   • In the run-up to his return to the White House next Monday, Mr. Trump has rattled the world, and America’s neighborhood in particular, with a list of objectives – buying Greenland, seizing the Panama Canal, making Canada the 51st state – that treat friendly nations as weak interlocutors and impediments to be subdued. 2025 January 14, Howard LaFranchi, “In Biden-Trump handoff, a foreign policy shift for a changed world?”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

Forms

Deriveds

subduingly · resubdue · subduable · subduement · subdual · subduer

Synonyms

quench · stop · underbring · chasten · vanquish · catch · restrict · straiten · shackle · underbring · inhibit · underbring · stay · cork · restrain · throttle · hold back · withstrain · curb · contain · repress · hold down · check · govern · hamshackle · curtail · choke back · conquer · guard · bind · quell · dampen · limit · bury · restrain · smother · suppress · behedge · subdue · stifle · stifle · withhold

Translations (82)

da underkue (to bring (a country) under control by force) · it sottomettere (to bring (a country) under control by force) · th ปราบ (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ja 征服する (to bring (a country) under control by force) · fi kukistaa (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · pt subjugar (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · cs podmanit si (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · de unter Kontrolle bringen (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · grc καταπονέω (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · it soggiogare (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · cmn 征服 (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ru подчиня́ть (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ru завоева́ть (to bring (a country) under control by force) · grc χειρόομαι (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ga traoch (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · oc sometre (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · pt submeter (to bring (a country) under control by force) · eo kvietigi (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ru подчини́ть (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · scn suttamèttiri (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · fr subjuguer (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ca asservir (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · da kue (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · tr hizaya getirmek (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · la subdō (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · es someter (to bring (a country) under control by force) · fr assujettir (to bring (a country) under control by force) · bg покорявам (to bring (a country) under control by force) · es someter (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · sa उब्जति (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · az tabe etmək (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · mi pēhipēhi (to bring (a country) under control by force) · oc subjugar (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · da undertrykke (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · it sottomettere (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · es sojuzgar (to bring (a country) under control by force) · ro închina (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · cs přemoci (to bring (a country) under control by force) · da underkue (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · es debelar (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ja 平げる (to bring (a country) under control by force) · bg подчинявам (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · bg подчиня (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · scn divìnciri (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · es domeñar (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ar طَوَّعَ (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · eo obeigi (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ro subjuga (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · es doblegar (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · nl onderwerpen (to bring (a country) under control by force) · mi whakangohengohe (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · io domtar (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · nl onder controle brengen (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · de unterwerfen (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · cmn 征服 (to bring (a country) under control by force) · ar تَغَلَّبَ عَلَى (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ga ceansaigh (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · cs podmanit si (to bring (a country) under control by force) · ja 平げる (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · la pācō (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · sv kuva (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · cs přemoci (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · oc subjugar (to bring (a country) under control by force) · da kue (to bring (a country) under control by force) · io submisar (to bring (a country) under control by force) · cs podrobit si (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · fi nujertaa (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · oc sometre (to bring (a country) under control by force) · cmn 制伏 (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · hu leigáz (to bring (a country) under control by force) · eo obeigi (to bring (a country) under control by force) · fi vallata (to bring (a country) under control by force) · io submisar (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ja 征服する (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · ro supune (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · fr soumettre (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · cs podrobit si (to bring (a country) under control by force) · ru завоёвывать (to bring (a country) under control by force) · rup ncljin (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · vi kềm nén (to overcome, quieten, bring under control) · de unterwerfen (to bring (a country) under control by force) · ro cuceri (to overcome, quieten, bring under control)