: inclined to exercise arbitrary and overbearing control over others
domineeringlyadverb
domineeringnessnoun
Did you know?
To be domineering is to behave like a lord. (The word lordly doesn't express quite the same thing.) Someone who tells you what you can wear or what friends you can spend time with could be called domineering; so could someone who always decides what you're going to do with your free time. Those of us who grow up with a domineering parent usually flee as soon as we're old enough.
masterful implies a strong personality and ability to act authoritatively.
her masterful personality soon dominated the movement
domineering suggests an overbearing or arbitrary manner and an obstinate determination to enforce one's will.
children controlled by domineering parents
imperious implies a commanding nature or manner and often suggests arrogant assurance.
an imperious executive used to getting his own way
peremptory implies an abrupt dictatorial manner coupled with an unwillingness to brook disobedience or dissent.
given a peremptory dismissal
imperative implies peremptoriness arising more from the urgency of the situation than from an inherent will to dominate.
an imperative appeal for assistance
Example Sentences
the younger children in the family were controlled by a domineering older sister
Recent Examples on the WebFox starred in the video as Kelly's domineering girlfriend, sharing an almost-kiss with the musician and stoking further speculation about their relationship.ELLE, 21 Aug. 2022 The streetwise Raoul Walsh, a native New Yorker who came of age at the turn of the century, filmed daily lives with a pugnacious snap that proved sometimes gleeful and exuberant, sometimes embittered and hardened, sometimes terrifyingly domineering. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 July 2022 His relationship with painting was akin to that of a besotted lover with a domineering partner: The pleasure is deranging, but the cost to one’s equanimity steep. Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 22 June 2022 As a team, though, the Dodgers are doing more than enough to not only own MLB’s best record through the first month of the season but do it in often domineering, anti-climatic style — making games such as Sunday boring for everybody but them. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2022 Miguel is a mean, violent, and domineering alpha male. Joe Otterson, Variety, 29 June 2022 Indeed, the sudden shock to its fragile political and economic balance could result in a more assertive and domineering China, seizing advantage of the widening power asymmetry between itself and its neighbors.Time, 11 Mar. 2022 But Elle’s most vicious spats are with the institute’s domineering director, Jan Stevens (a supremely icy Gwendoline Christie), who, as the group’s wealthy patron, insists on maintaining a level of creative input. Justin Changfilm Critic, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2022 Exuberantly eclectic, The Clamor of Ornament is a welcome antidote to provincial claims of exceptionalism and domineering hierarchies of style. Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 17 June 2022 See More