List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 106

SYNONYMS: defeat, conquer, vanquish, beat, rout, subdue, subjugate, overcome.
These verbs mean to get the better of an adversary.

Defeat is the most general: Whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the end will be the same.
Conquer suggests decisive and often wide-scale victory: A conquering army on the border will not be halted by the power of eloquence.
Vanquish emphasizes total mastery: The forces of Napoleon were vanquished at Waterloo.
Beat, less formal, is often the equivalent of defeat, though beat may convey greater emphasis: "To win battles you beat the soul of the enemy man" (George S. Patton).
Rout implies complete victory followed by the disorderly flight of the defeated force: The division was routed during the first hours of the war.
Subdue suggests mastery and control achieved by overpowering: It cost the Romans two great wars, and three great battles, to subdue that little kingdom of Macedonia.
Subjugate more strongly implies reducing an opponent to submission: The last foreigner to subjugate England was a Norman duke in the Middle Ages named William.
To overcome is to prevail over, often by persevering: overcome an enemy; overcome temptation; overcome a physical handicap.