subdued
part of speech
adjective (subdued, more subdued, most subdued); verb (past tense and past participle of subdue)
meaning for a pupil
1) Subdued means quiet and a little sad or tired, not lively as usual: «You seem subdued today». tree →
2) Subdued light, colours or sounds are soft and gentle, not bright or loud. tree →
3) As a verb form, subdued means brought under control: «The rebels were subdued». tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and feelings lessons, «subdued» is a good word to show a character is quietly unhappy, worried or tired. In art and design, «subdued colours» are soft and muted. In history, peoples and lands were «subdued» by armies. Phrases: «a subdued mood», «subdued lighting», «in a subdued voice».
examples
- Tom was very subdued after his dog got lost. tree →
- The class was subdued after the sad news. tree →
- The restaurant had subdued lighting. tree →
- She painted her bedroom in subdued colours. tree →
- He spoke in a subdued voice. tree →
- The rebellion was quickly subdued. tree →
- The crowd was subdued after their team lost. tree →
- He was full of resource and courage, and finally outwitted and subdued all his foes. tree →
note
As an adjective it is about mood or brightness, not about being beaten. Opposites: «lively», «cheerful», «bright», «loud».
In the corpora
- So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel.
- So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
- So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more.
- So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
- For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle; Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «subdued» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.