subordinates 1 of 2

noun

plural of subordinate
as in underlings
one who is of lower rank and typically under the authority of another subordinates do most of the actual creation of the famous designer's clothing designs

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subordinates

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of subordinate
as in subjects
to bring under one's control by force of arms it is one of the lessons of history that more powerful civilizations often subordinate weaker ones

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 subordinates
Noun
Impressive Humility with peers, and something else entirely with subordinates. — Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026 Putin has also protected his direct allies while not extending any such shield to younger subordinates. — Julian G. Waller, Foreign Affairs, 7 Aug. 2026 The supporting figures are colorful enough, though Akkabi’s sneering chief villain arguably makes less of an impression than his subordinates. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 26 July 2026 Mayor Dean Trantalis, Commissioner Steven Glassman and Commissioner John Herbst took issue with her leadership, accusing her of being dismissive to subordinates and ruffling too many feathers. — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026 Put simply, the theory says the president should be able to issue orders to subordinates and to fire them at will. — Graham G. Dodds, The Conversation, 30 June 2026 Another maintenance officer months later reported Brady to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission for having subordinates perform work at his private residence. — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 10 June 2026 Landau quickly implemented a strict hierarchy at the agency, requiring subordinates to work up a chain of command before contacting her — an about-face from Frolich’s collaborative approach, attorneys said. — Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 27 May 2026 Maybe Aziraphale’s hope of using him to bring about peace on Earth, the part of the plan his subordinates seem to find most objectionable, isn’t so misplaced after all. — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 13 May 2026
Verb
China subordinates the goal of improving foreign populations’ health outcomes to establishing dependency on its medical tech. — Hana Kiros, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2026 Disturbing contemporary audiences, the resulting superintelligence subordinates all human individuals — absorbing them as mere neurons in its global cortex. — Thomas Moynihan, Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025 Gael García Bernal brilliantly subordinates his stardom to Diaz’s discerning camera, disappearing into the role of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who, at the start of the 16th century, navigated a crew to Southeast Asia after convincing the Spanish crown to fund his journey. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subordinates
  1. underlings
  2. subjects
  3. minions
  4. dominates
  5. henchmen
  6. conquers
  7. inferiors
  8. subdues
Noun
  • Rumors of relationships between executives and underlings went around on campus.
    — Claire Stapleton, New Yorker, 18 July 2026
  • France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival gets underway this weekend with Illumination’s Minions & Monsters, the latest movie devoted to the mischievous army of yellow underlings first introduced in 2010 breakout Despicable Me.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 19 June 2026
Definition of underlings
Verb
  • Then founder and master distiller Joe McGirr subjects his spirit to a vapor chamber chockablock with even more juniper.
    — Brad Japhe, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • This allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and no longer arbitrarily subjects them to traffic control measures designed for other types of vehicles.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2026
Definition of subjects
Noun
  • Just as Wolverine is surrounded, he’s saved by Mystique, who’s shape-shifted herself into one of Trask’s minions.
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 13 Aug. 2026
  • One of Danhausen’s minions took out Mysterio with a flipping dive on the outside.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of minions
Verb
  • OpenRouter's fivefold volume jump suggests deflation and platform revenue are not mechanically opposed, and nobody outside Stripe has the data to say which effect dominates.
    — Janakiram MSV, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2026
  • China currently dominates much of the global rare earth processing and magnet supply chain.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of dominates
Noun
  • The psychedelic sequence that follows, punctuated by three European henchmen tailing the girls in a black SUV, is funny enough.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2026
  • And so does Jesse — particularly the latest installment, which sees the iconic henchmen find themselves as accidental stars in 1920s Hollywood.
    — Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
Definition of henchmen
Verb
  • As technology conquers this final Wi-Fi frontier, air travel will never be the same.
    — Nancy Walecki, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Iceman appears on four Billboard charts this week and conquers two of them.
    — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
Definition of conquers
Noun
  • That comes to the Philippines in the form of war, as well as through the invocation, or establishment, of American-style modes of government and education that place Filipinos along this racial hierarchy, identifying them as these inferiors that need to be taught how to govern themselves.
    — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Definition of inferiors
Verb
  • In person, Huang subdues his ironic braggadocio with polite eye contact and rolling belly laughs at his own jokes.
    — Mariella Rudi, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • El Nino also subdues the hurricane season in the Atlantic because there is so much heat in the Pacific that outcompetes the Atlantic, Berardelli added.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 May 2026
Definition of subdues

Browse Nearby Words

subordinateness
subordinates
subordinating
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Cite this Entry

“Subordinates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subordinates. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of subordinates for Spanish Speakers

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