Overmastered

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have attained an absolute grip on a person or circumstance To have commanded a forceful control that overshadows any resistance To have decisively subdued or triumphed over others with authority
2. To exert full power or influence over someone or something, leaving no room for opposition
3. To have such strong control that it overrides any opposition or challenge

Etymology: "Overmastered" is the past tense and past participle of "overmaster," which combines the prefix "over-" with "master." The prefix is the native English one, descending from Old English "ofer," meaning "above" or "beyond," so the word is a hybrid: an English prefix attached to a word that came into English from Old French, which had taken it from Latin "magister," meaning "teacher" or "chief." The base word "master" thus carried the sense of a person in authority, someone who directs or instructs, long before it meant control over things or people. "Overmaster" builds on that idea of mastery and adds "over-" to mean getting the upper hand, so that one force surpasses another and brings it under its command.

Synonyms: subdued, conquered

Antonyms: liberated, freed