tame
changed from the wild or savage state; domesticated: a tame bear.
without the savageness or fear of humans normal in wild animals; gentle, fearless, or without shyness, as if domesticated: That lion acts as tame as a house cat.
tractable, docile, or submissive, as a person or the disposition.
spiritless or pusillanimous.
not to be taken very seriously; without real power or importance; serviceable but harmless: They kept a tame scientist around.
brought into service; rendered useful and manageable; under control, as natural resources or a source of power.
cultivated or improved by cultivation, as a plant or its fruit.
to make tame; domesticate; make tractable.
to deprive of courage, ardor, or zest.
to deprive of interest, excitement, or attractiveness; make dull.
to soften; tone down.
to harness or control; render useful, as a source of power.
to cultivate, as land or plants.
to become tame.
Origin of tame
1Other words for tame
Opposites for tame
Other words from tame
- tame·ly, adverb
- tame·ness, noun
- tam·er, noun
- o·ver·tame, adjective
- o·ver·tame·ly, adverb
- o·ver·tame·ness, noun
- un·tame, adjective
- un·tame·ly, adverb
- un·tame·ness, noun
Words Nearby tame
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tame in a sentence
Beginning with 130 foxes, he selectively chose and bred those that were the most “tame,” as he described itThese “tame” foxes were allowed to mate.
Forget Everything You Know About Your Dog (Ep. 436) | Stephen J. Dubner | October 22, 2020 | FreakonomicsIn all, the measures looked methodical—tame, even—compared with elsewhere in Europe.
As COVID cases spike in Europe, Italy stands out—but this time for doing things right | Bernhard Warner | October 15, 2020 | FortuneOut there, the ownership of land seemed like a myth used to tame an unconquerable planet with its imposing mountains, endless forests, and hypnotic deserts.
How Biking Across America Formed an Unlikely Friendship | Raffi Joe Wartanian | October 8, 2020 | Outside OnlineTo solve it, the city now wants to harness and tame those fees so everybody is paying the same amount based on the type of housing they build.
Environment Report: Size Doesn’t Always Matter Under New Parks Plan | MacKenzie Elmer | July 13, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoHistorically, effective governments have always been able to tame them, although sometimes it took many decades to make that possible.
What Does Covid-19 Mean for Cities (and Marriages)? (Ep. 410) | Stephen J. Dubner | March 26, 2020 | Freakonomics
Her Facebook photos could populate a tame “girls with guns” style calendar.
But Edith was rather tame compared to George Sitwell, her father.
He was widely perceived as having been outplayed by a vast military bureaucracy that he never sought to tame.
Hagel Takes a Bullet for Obama: Inside the Defense Secretary’s Sudden Firing | Shane Harris, Tim Mak | November 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThese comments are actually tame compared to the off-the-charts, scary chatter heard from the GOP last week.
“We make the Wolf of Wall Street look tame,” one of my sources for the book told me.
‘Housewife Tycoon’ Took On ‘Mad Men’ NYC Real Estate Market and Won | Vicky Ward | October 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe hills disappear some miles above this city, and henceforward to the sea all is flat and tame as a marsh.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyYou've got a splendid chance can spend what you like and rule in society and he'll subside into a tame spaniel.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodThe party was made up of six men on horseback, two tame buffaloes, and a pack of immense dogs used to hunting.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton WadeWith one of the tame buffaloes on each side of him, he can now be easily led to the village, where they will kill him.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton WadeYou can see that it is five o'clock, because Big God Nqong's pet tame clock says so.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard Kipling
British Dictionary definitions for tame
/ (teɪm) /
changed by man from a naturally wild state into a tractable, domesticated, or cultivated condition
(of animals) not fearful of human contact
lacking in spirit or initiative; meek or submissive: a tame personality
flat, insipid, or uninspiring: a tame ending to a book
slow-moving: a tame current
to make tame; domesticate
to break the spirit of, subdue, or curb
to tone down, soften, or mitigate
Origin of tame
1Derived forms of tame
- tamable or tameable, adjective
- tamability, tameability, tamableness or tameableness, noun
- tameless, adjective
- tamely, adverb
- tameness, noun
- tamer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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