governed 1 of 2

adjective

as in controlled

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governed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of govern
1
as in ruled
to exercise authority or power over the president is elected in order to govern the country, not to follow public opinion polls

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2
as in regulated
to keep from exceeding a desirable degree or level (as of expression) you need to govern your speech and be able to communicate your outrage without resorting to profanity

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in operated
to look after and make decisions about the company's finances are governed by its chief financial officer

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of governed
Adjective
The ability to operationalize intelligence in a sustainable, secure, governed and ever-improving ecosystem will be a source of competitive advantage. — Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Verb
The department exists to preserve some semblance of equal justice in the United States — imperfectly, haltingly, often overbearingly for some and cautiously for others — and help ensure that the nation is governed by the rule of law. — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 20 Aug. 2026 Additionally, the bill would group private detention facilities with licensed behavioral health facilities already governed by strict state operating guidelines. — Sofia Williams, Sacbee.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Federal troops took control of Baidoa on March 30, prompting Laftagareen, who had governed South West since 2018, to announce his resignation. — ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026 Telecom ultimately cleared the hurdle by migrating from hardware to software, adopting new business models and adapting the regulatory rules that had governed an industry built on landlines. — Anna Demeo, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 The perils of a society governed so extensively by corporations become impossible to ignore. — Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026 The Court’s oral arguments have precise protocols, but none of them governed where a President should sit in the courtroom, because no President had ever done such a thing. — Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026 Although North Korea officially describes itself as a socialist republic governed by the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), the Kim family has exercised supreme authority over the country’s political, military, and ideological institutions. — Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for governed
  1. controlled
  2. ruled
  3. regulated
  4. operated
  5. constrained
  6. contained
  7. managed
  8. restrained
Adjective
  • Which in layman’s terms means the Canvas L can produce more precise, controlled and transparent sound.
    — John Archer, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026
  • Hurteau says while many land managers and fire experts have been working to restore forest health, there still isn't nearly enough controlled burning being done.
    — Lauren Sommer, NPR, 4 May 2026
Definition of controlled
Verb
  • Reasons for that include a lot of Vikings blitzes and two great plays by safety Jay Ward, a would-be interception ruled a sack and a sack on a blitz.
    — Ren Clayton, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Downs got several reps against him, allowing a touchdown in red zone work but appearing to break up a pass along the sideline that was initially ruled a reception.
    — Jon Machota, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of ruled
Verb
  • Moreover, many of the road trip’s corporate sponsors—including Boeing, United Airlines, Royal Caribbean, Toyota, Shell, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Lyft—are regulated by the department Duffy oversees.
    — Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026
  • At the same time, researchers have begun to ask whether autonomous clinical AI should be licensed and regulated more like clinicians than conventional medical devices.
    — Arya Rao, STAT, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of regulated
Verb
  • For decades, the OTC market operated largely outside that framework.
    — Cromwell Coulson, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026
  • More pertinently, Leeds United operated in the same formation in their 2-1 victory at Old Trafford in April, attacking down the sides and firing over crosses.
    — Laurie Whitwell, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of operated
Adjective
  • Study how the constrained labs built, and then apply those lessons with American compute behind them.
    — Mark Minevich, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The skills that defined the role, from customer understanding and feature prioritization to roadmap negotiation, were shaped by constrained capacity.
    — Pallavi Mahajan, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of constrained
Verb
  • Traces of a silk fabric found near her skull that may have been used as a trim on a hat or bonnet contained metal threads made of pure gold and silver.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • According to German media, the cache in Berlin contained two handguns and ammunition.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of contained
Verb
  • Harston is also one of the Screaming Marys, a performance collective managed by Screaming Alley, which regularly hosts workshops in everything from burlesque to lip-syncing – and previously did Jackson’s drag king course.
    — Sheena McKenzie, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Those came when Madrid’s Champions League match at Benfica (then managed by Mourinho) was stopped after the Brazilian alleged opposition winger Gianluca Prestianni racially abused him.
    — Guillermo Rai, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of managed
Adjective
  • The formula is closer to reserved + low-energy + emotionally restrained + literal + technocratic + untheatrical + less visionary + less attention-seeking.
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The man has been robbed, restrained and bound in Chicago before being taken to Harvey and left there, the news release said.
    — Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of restrained

Browse Nearby Words

governances
governed
governess
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Cite this Entry

“Governed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/governed. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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