Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Subdued |
SubduedAdjective1. In a softened tone; "hushed voices"; "muted trumpets"; "a subdued whisper"; "a quiet reprimand". 2. Restrained in style or quality; "a little masterpiece of low-keyed eloquence". 3. Overpowered and subjugated as by military force. 4. Quieted and brought under control; "children were subdued and silent". 5. Lacking in light; not bright or harsh; "a dim light beside the bed"; "subdued lights and soft music". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "subdued" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Synonyms: SubduedSynonyms: dim (adj), hushed (adj), low-key (adj), low-keyed (adj), muted (adj), quiet (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonym: unsubdued (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Excitability | Meek, tolerant; patient, patient as Job; submissive; tame; content, resigned, chastened, subdued, lamblike; gentle as a lamb; suaviter in modo; mild as mothers milk; soft as peppermint; armed with patience, bearing with, clement, long-suffering. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Subdued |
| English words defined with "subdued": agleam, Artaxerxes II ♦ broken ♦ crushed ♦ gleaming ♦ humbled, humiliated, hushed ♦ invincible ♦ low ♦ Middle tint, muted ♦ nitid ♦ Overblow, Overworn ♦ quelled, quenched, quiet ♦ Secondary tint, squelched ♦ The gentle craft, tinge, To carry through ♦ unbeatable, unbroken, undercurrent, undertone, Unmasterable, unvanquishable ♦ Weak. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "subdued": Albion the Giant, Avim ♦ Bottle-imps ♦ erosion surface ♦ ITCH ♦ Joktheel ♦ low red-heat ♦ Macedon is not Worthy of Thee, Mahatmas, Milesians ♦ Seiks, Selling the Pass. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "subdued": Unmasterable. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Pictured is a laboratory shot of a computer-assisted tomographic (CAT) scanner. Pictured is a technician working at a screen and behind a glass wall. A patient is on a table and being tested by the CAT scanner. The lighting is very subdued. This new technology revolutionized detection of brain tumors. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer). |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Johann Gottfried Von Herder | Brave is the lion tamer, brave is the world subduer, but braver is the one who has subdued himself. |
Seneca | No evil propensity of the human heart is so powerful that it may mot be subdued by discipline. |
William Shakespeare | My nature is subdued to what it works in, like the dyer's hand. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | The conqueror indeed will be apt to think himself master: and it is the very condition of the subdued not to be able to dispute their right. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Thenardier, above all a man of astuteness and poise, was a rascal of the subdued order |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | And at last Pa and Ma and Uncle John came out, and they were subdued and quiet |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | One might expect this condition to trigger a graft rejection,but it does not because the uterus is an "immunologically privileged" site where immune responses are subdued. (references) | |
Business | In addition, worldwide demand for PCs has been weak and a slowdown in global economic growth will likely keep sales subdued. (references) | |
Economic History | Malaysia | Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), has remained subdued. (references) |
Singapore | Market growth prospects are forecast to remain subdued for the rest of 2001 and possibly through the early part of 2002. (references) | |
Malaysia | As long as inflationary pressures remain subdued, and loan demand remains weak, the Central Bank is unlikely to change its policy of low interest rates. (references) | |
Human Rights | Switzerland | He died in a hospital 4 days after being subdued. (references) |
Australia | In January a riot at the Port Hedland center in the northwest resulted in injuries to three staff members; rioters were subdued with pepper spray, but no detainees were injured. (references) | |
Switzerland | According to an official investigation, his death was apparently the result of an unforeseeable "fatal chain of circumstances" that included the method by which he was subdued, his physical efforts to resist, and stress. (references) | |
Political Economy | MALAYSIA | Although consumer and investor confidence improved with the recovery, aggregate domestic consumption and investment remained subdued. (references) |
Trade | Uae | After a subdued 2000, GCC project finance dramatically picked-up in the second half of 2001 with about US $ 4.2 billion in project financing arranged. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ITCH, n. The patriotism of a Scotchman. J J is a consonant in English, but some nations use it as a vowel -- than which nothing could be more absurd. Its original form, which has been but slightly modified, was that of the tail of a subdued dog, and it was not a letter but a character, standing for a Latin verb, jacere, "to throw," because when a stone is thrown at a dog the dog's tail assumes that shape. This is the origin of the letter, as expounded by the renowned Dr. Jocolpus Bumer, of the University of Belgrade, who established his conclusions on the subject in a work of three quarto volumes and committed suicide on being reminded that the j in the Roman alphabet had originally no curl. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
John Hartmann | Never, ever. I mean, Phil was a middle child. They're usually more humble and more subdued. And his comedic talents didn't really emerge until high school. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | During this trial the voices of disunity among us were silent or were subdued to an occasional whine that warned us that they were still among us. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | The crew and passengers quickly subdued the man, who had been trained by al Qaeda and was armed with explosives. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Subdued" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 75.64% of the time. "Subdued" is used about 349 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 75.64% | 264 | 18,152 |
| Lexical Verb (past participle) | 16.05% | 56 | 45,296 |
| Lexical Verb (past tense) | 7.74% | 27 | 66,962 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.57% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 349 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "subdued". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Baalah | N/A | Biblical | She that is governed or subdued |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
Expressions using "subdued": speak in subdued voice ♦ subdued relief. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "subdued": subdued-looking. | |
Ending with "subdued": half-subdued. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
subdued | 11 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "subdued"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | i ulët (base, contemptible, dark, deep, down, gentle, give away, humble, ignoble, infamous, low, low down, low lying, lowly, mean, modest, nasty, nefarious, petty, primary, rascally, scrubby, scurvy, shoddy, vile, villainous, vulgar), i ndrydhur (controlled, twisted). (various references) | |
Arabic | مكبوت (curbed, penned, pent up, repressed, restrained, suppressed), مكبوح, خافت (dim, faint, low, soft). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | унил (chap-fallen, crestfallen, dejected, down, hipped, lonesome, low, low-spirited, mopish, vapory, vapoury), убит (degraded, grey, murdered, sober, subfusc), сломен, сподавен (still), омекотен, подтиснат (depressed, downtrodden, oppressed, suppressed). (various references) | |
Chinese | 制服 (subdue, Subduing, uniform). (various references) | |
Czech | zasmušilý (dull, gloomy, grave, spleenful, sullen), zaražený (abashed, dumbfounded, sheepish), tlumený (quiet, soft), tichý (calm, mum, noiseless, Pacific, peaceable, quiet, restful, silent, soundless, still, stock-still, tacit, tranquil, unspoken), pochmurný (bleak, depressing, dismal, gloomy, lugubrious). (various references) | |
Danish | svagt relief (flattish relief, subdued relief), afrundet bjerg (subdued mountain). (various references) | |
Dutch | zwak reliëf (subdued relief), gedempt licht (dimmed light, subdued light), afgevlakte berg (subdued mountain). (various references) | |
Finnish | vaimea (muffled), hillitty (composed, controlled, quiet, restrained). (various references) | |
French | subjuguai, subjuguâmes, subjuguèrent, subjugua, tamisé, contenu, atténué. (various references) | |
German | gebändigt, bändigten, bändigte. (various references) | |
Greek | μαλακόσ (compliant, crumby, malleable, meek, mellow, mild, quaggy, smooth, soft, softy, squashy, unctuous, waxen), υποτεταγμένοσ, χαμηλωμένοσ (bated). (various references) | |
Hungarian | szelíd (benign, biddable, bland, gentle, lenient, light, meek, milky, placid, quiet, sweet, sweet-tempered, tame), letompított (cushioned), lesújtott (afflicted, prostrate), leigázott (downtrodden, enslaved), halk (faint, inaudible, low, quiet, soft, soft spoken, still), enyhített, diszkrét színezetű, diszkrét mintájú, csökkentett (cut, diminished, reduced). (various references) | |
Italian | sottomesso (obedient, pliable, subject, submissive, subservient). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 軟らか (gentle, limp, meek, soft, tender), "らか (gentle, limp, meek, soft, tender), ほら貝 (abstractedly, baby, being stupefied, blankly, by ones and twos, clip joint, conch, crunch, dazedly, dimly, doing nothing, doll, dreamily, drip drip, dry and crumbling, faintly, flushingly, gradually, hazily, here and there, idling away time, in flames, indistinctly, it's getting late, little by little, munch, one after another, pimples, rip-off, slang for cunt, slightly, splash, spots, to be moved to tears, to be touched by, to become blurred, to become dim, to become sentimental, to complain, to grumble, to rip someone off, trumpet shell, unfair overcharging, vaguely, we must be getting off, whispering, with a splash). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ぼそぼそ (dry and crumbling, whispering), やわらか (gentle, limp, meek, soft, tender). (various references) | |
Manx | smaghtit (castigated, chastened, controlled, corrected, cowed, curbed, disciplined, governed, reproved, restrained, subjected), jargit er (overcome), injil (common, common vulgar, depressed, low, low down, low-built, low-grade, low-level, low-lying, low-necked, low-pitched, subaltern), currit fo chosh (quelled, suppressed). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ubduedsay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | subjugado, vencido (beaten, due, loser, mature, overdue, payable, washed-up), dominado (restrained, subject), deprimido (blue, broken-down, dejected, depressed, dumpish, dumpy, hagridden, hangdog, heavy-laden, hipped, low, low-spirited, melancholy), conquistado. (various references) | |
Romanian | discret (circumspect, delicate, discreet, hushed, maiden, mellow, reserved, secret, secretive, silent, unobtrusive), delicat (captious, dainty, delicate, delicately, fine, fine-spun, finicky, fragile, frail, fussy, gentle, gentlemanlike, gently, mellow, nice, queasy, refined, slender, slim, slippery, soft, tactful, tender, thin, ticklish, tricky, weak). (various references) | |
Russian | смягченный, подчинять подавленный, подчиненный (dependant, dependent, inferior, junior, offspring, parent-offspring, servient, subaltern, subject, subordinate, subservient, under). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | spušten, ublažen (alleviated, anodyne, mitigated), potčinjen (ancillary, subject). (various references) | |
Spanish | suave (balmy, dulcet, genial, gentle, mild, silken, silky, smooth, soft, suave, supple, sweet), templado (bland, keyed, mild, temperate, tempered, tune, warm), bajo (bank, base, bass, bass voice, basso, below, beneath, bottom, deep, depth, despicable, down, humble, low, low down, low lying, lower, menial, short, small, under, underneath, would be). (various references) | |
Swedish | undertryckt (pent up, pent-up), dämpad (dull). (various references) | |
Turkish | zorlanmış, itaat etmesi sağlanmış, hafif (airy, blancmange, cushy, digestible, distant, dulcet, easy of digestion, feeble, feint, frail, frivolous, lenient, light, lightly, lightweight, loose, mild, piano, slight, small, soft, tenuous, unsound, unsubstantial, weak, wishy washy), düşük (abortion, fallen, falling, hypo-, low, miscarriage, nominal), bastırılmış (appeased, bottled, bottled up, depressed, pent up, restrained). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | підкорений (subject), пом'якшений (euphemistic, euphemistical, tempered). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | adtenuati, adtenuatus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Romans Chapter 8, Verse 20 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Th gar mataiothti h ktisiV upetagh ouc ekousa alla dia ton upotaxanta ep elpidi |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Vanitati enim creatura subiecta est non volens sed propter eum qui subiecit in spem |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Forþy gesceaft wearð swicdome underworpen, nat þurh agne willan ac þurh þone willan þæs þe þæt underþeodde, on hyhte |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | But the creature is suget to vanyte, not willynge, but for hym that made it suget in hope; |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Because the creatures are subdued to vanyte agaynst their will: but for his will which subdueth them in hope. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope: |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | For every living thing was put under the power of change, not by its desire, but by him who made it so, in hope |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Romans Chapter 8, Verse 20 |
| Cebuano | kay ang kabuhatan nailalum sa kakawangan, dili tungod sa kaugalingong pagbuot niini, kondili tungod sa pagbuot niya nga mao ang nagpahimutang niini diha, uban sa paglaum; |
| Croatian | stvorenje je uistinu podvrgnuto ispraznosti - ne po svojoj volji, nego zbog onoga koji ga podvrgnu - ali u nadi. |
| Danish | Thi Skabningen blev underlagt Forfængeligheden, ikke med sin Villie, men for hans Skyld, som lagde den derunder, |
| Dutch | Want het schepsel is der ijdelheid onderworpen, niet gewillig, maar om diens wil, die het der ijdelheid onderworpen heeft; |
| Finnish | Sillä luomakunta on alistettu katoavaisuuden alle - ei omasta tahdostaan, vaan alistajan - kuitenkin toivon varaan, |
| French | Car la création a été soumise la vanité, -non de son gré, mais cause de celui qui l`y a soumise, - |
| German | Sintemal die Kreatur unterworfen ist der Eitelkeit ohne ihren Willen, sondern um deswillen, der sie unterworfen hat, auf Hoffnung. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Sebab alam sudah dibiarkan untuk menjadi rapuh, bukan karena kemauannya sendiri, tetapi karena Allah membiarkannya demikian. Meskipun begitu ada juga harapan ini: |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Karena segala makhluk sudah ditaklukkan kepada yang sia-sia, bukannya dengan kehendaknya sendiri, melainkan dengan kehendak Dia yang menaklukkan mereka itu, tetapi dengan pengharapan, |
| Italian | essa infatti è stata sottomessa alla caducit - non per suo volere, ma per volere di colui che l'ha sottomessa - e nutre la speranza |
| Latvian | Jo radîba pakïauta iznîcîbai ne savas patikas dçï, bet tâ dçï, kas to pakïâva, dodams cerîbu, |
| Maori | Kua meinga hoki te tekateka noa hei rangatira mo te mea i hanga, ehara i te mea na tenei ake i whakaae, engari na ta te kaiwhakarite i pai ai, i runga i te tumanako, |
| Norwegian | skapningen blev jo lagt under forgjengelighet - ikke godvillig, men efter hans vilje som la den derunder - |
| Portuguese | Porquanto a criação ficou sujeita vaidade, não por sua vontade, mas por causa daquele que a sujeitou, |
| Rumanian | Cqci firea a fost supusq dewertqciunii-nu de voie, ci din pricina celui ce a supus -o-cu nqdejdea knsq, |
| Russian | ПФПНХ ЮФП ФЧБТШ ПЛПТЙМБУШ УХЕФЕ ОЕ "П'ТПЧПМШОП, ОП П ЧПМЕ ПЛПТЙЧЫЕЗП ЕЕ, Ч ОБ"ЕЦ"Е, |
| Shuar | Ashí Yus najanamia nuna Yámankamtaik ti pénker najanamiayi. Túrasha yajauch ajasmiayi. Nusha Ní neaskeka Túrunachmiayi. Antsu Yus ukunam ataksha iwiarnartin Atí tusa Tunáa wayamunam yajauch ajasat tusa tsankatkamiayi. Tuma asamtai iwiarnartin tsawantan Nákawai. |
| Swahili | Kwa maana, viumbe viliwekwa katika hali ya kutojiweza kabisa, si kwa hiari yao, ila vilifanywa hivyo kwa mapenzi ya Mungu. Hata hivyo yapo matumaini, |
| Swedish | Skapelsen har ju blivit lagd under förgängligheten, icke av eget val, utan för dens skull, som lade den därunder; dock så, att en förhoppning skulle finnas, |
| Uma | Apa' owi, dunia' toi pai' hawe'ea ihi' -na jadi' tetotowi-mi, alaa-na uma-pi mokalaua tuwu' -ra. Tohe'e majadi' uma ngkai konoa dunia' moto. Alata'ala to mpototowi dunia' toi, apa' wae-mi kabotu' -na. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "subdued": subduedly. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "subdued": unsubdued. (additional references) | |
| |
"Subdued" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: subdie, subdude, sudbue. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "subdued" (pronounced subduw"d) |
| 3 | -d uw" d | dude, endued. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-d-d-e-s-u-u" | |
-1 letter: subdue. | |
-2 letters: bused, dudes. | |
-3 letters: beds, bedu, buds, debs, dubs, dude, duds, dues, sudd, sued, used. | |
-4 letters: bed, bud, bus, deb, dub, dud, due, eds, sub, sue, use. | |
-5 letters: be, de, ed, es, us. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-d-d-e-s-u-u" | |
+1 letter: subduced. | |
+2 letters: subducted, subduedly, underbuds, unsubdued. | |
+4 letters: undisturbed. | |
+5 letters: dumbfounders, unsubsidized. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Historic | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Spoken 12. Quotations: Speeches | 13. Usage Frequency 14. Names: Derived from 15. Expressions 16. Expressions: Internet | 17. Translations: Modern 18. Translations: Ancient 19. Bible Trace 20. Derivations | 21. Rhymes 22. Anagrams 23. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
