MEANING
To induce someone secretly or unlawfully to commit a crime, especially perjury.
Use it for
Use in legal, political, or conspiratorial scenes involving false testimony.Name covert pressure that corrupts testimony or another lawful process.
Words that belong together
- suborn a witness
- suborn perjury
- attempt to suborn
On the page
The magistrate suspected that someone had suborned the witness.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- suborn
- Past tense
- suborned
- Past participle
- suborned
- Present participle
- suborning
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- suborn
- Present continuous
- am/is/are suborning
- Present perfect
- have/has suborned
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been suborning
- Past
- suborned
- Past continuous
- was/were suborning
- Past perfect
- had suborned
- Past perfect continuous
- had been suborning
- Future
- will suborn
- Future continuous
- will be suborning
- Future perfect
- will have suborned
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been suborning
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
A formal legal word that often appears with “witness” or “perjury”; it is more specific than persuade or bribe.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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