‘Divide and conquer‘ is an idiomatic expression that means to defeat your opponents in a way that they start to disagree and fight one another so that they will not be able to work together to oppose you.
When you divide and conquer, you defeat your opponent and you remain in charge. However, when you want to use this idiom in a sentence, you don’t need to use it this way, there are better ways you can use it.
I will explain the different ways you can say ‘Divide and conquer’ in this article, you should read on.
20 Phrases Similar to Divide and Conquer
Divide and rule
‘Divide and rule’ is a better way to say ‘Divide and conquer.’
When you divide a group of people you have succeeded in breaking them apart and ruling shows how you remain in control and have made it impossible for them to go against you.
Example:
- What do you know about the war? I think France is not going to take it likely on Croatia, France hopes to divide and rule!
Divide and misrule
A more unique way to say ‘Divide and conquer’ is ‘Divine and misrule.’
To misrule is to disrupt the peace and order of a place. Usually, when you divide a group of people and you cause disruption, you have succeeded in dividing and conquering the group.
Example:
- To bring down that nation, all you need to do is to divide and misrule them.
Dissension
‘Dissension’ is another unique way to say “Divide and conquer.’
Dissension is a way of causing disagreement that ends up in chaos or discord.
This can be used when you are trying to defeat an opponent, that way, you easily find a way to cause disagreement between them which will lead to chaos.
Example:
- They had so many issues that the meeting ended in dissension
Divide and defeat
One of the best ways to say ‘Divide and conquer’ is ‘Divide and defeat.’
Defeating someone or a group of people means victory over a group of people either in a battle or in any contest.
You have successfully divided and overcome them while still being in power.
Example:
- Did the Ukrainian Army awaken the beast? They divided and defeated Croatia.
Split and beat
‘Split and beat’ sounds good as a better way to say ‘Divide and conquer.’
When you split, you have successfully made a person or a group of people break apart. Most times, this happens forcibly.
When you split and beat a group of people you have succeeded in breaking them apart and also making it almost impossible for them to come against you.
Example:
- Mark did Justice to the angry mob, he split and beat them.
Separate and vanquish
You can say ‘Separate and vanquish’ instead of ‘Divide and conquer.’
To vanquish is to thoroughly defeat someone in a competition or a group of people in a battle.
When you separate and vanquish someone, you defeat the person in a way that the person will not be able to fight back.
Example:
- He had no option but to separate and vanquish the angry mob, or else they would have done more harm.
Split up and Triumph over
A better way to say ‘Divide and conquer’ is ‘Split up and Triumph over.’
To triumph over a group of people is to achieve victory over the group by defeating them completely.
When you split up and triumph over a group of people, you have successfully conquered them.
Example:
- The best way to defeat these people is to split and triumph over them.
Break up and overpower
‘Break up and overpower’ is a better way to say ‘Divide and conquer.’
To break up is to disintegrate a group of people, overpowering them and making it difficult for them to harm you. Because of this, they may not even talk to you anymore.
When overpower someone, you not only defeat the person, but also defeat with immense strength and gain control over them.
Example:
- I was not surprised when the army broke up and overpowered the terrorist group, the army was strong enough.
Sunder and prevail over
‘Sunder and prevail over’ is another way to say ‘Divide and conquer.’
To sunder is to split apart, when you split apart a group of people, you have decided them.
Prevailing over them shows you have proven you have more power and you have made it so obvious that you have what it takes to break them apart without them being able to do anything about it.
Example:
- I expected the police to sunder and prevail over the group of criminals!
Set apart and brought to their knees
‘Set apart end brought to their knees’ is another unique way to say ‘Divide and conquer.’
When you bring someone to their knees, you have already proven your superiority over the person and you have also made the person or group surrender easily to you because it is already obvious that the person cannot overpower you.
This way, you have easily set them apart and brought them to their knees.
Example:
- It was so easy for the army to set the criminals apart and bring them to their needs.
Isolate and subdue
A more unique way to say ‘Divide and conquer’ is ‘Isolate and subdue.’
To isolate and subdue is to make your opponent helpless by quieting them and bringing them under your control.
This is a method that can be used to defeat an opponent either in a battle or in a competition.
To subdue an opponent is to overcome them by force.
Example:
- The best way to defeat those criminals is to isolate and subdue them.
Put to one side and subjugate
‘Put to one side and subjugate’ sounds like a nice way to say ‘Divide and conquer.’
To put someone to one side is a way to ignore the person temporarily, when you put someone to one side and subjugate the person, you do it to hurt the person.
Because when you subjugate someone, you dominate the person by bringing him under your control.
Example:
- Simon is not someone you can easily put to one side and subjugate.
Move apart and overthrow
A nice way to say ‘Divide and conquer’ is ‘Move apart and overthrow.’
To overthrow is to forcefully remove someone from power or to forcefully take away the power that someone has over something.
When you move the person apart and overthrow them, you have not only conquered the person but also forcibly taken power away from the person. This shows that you are still in control and that the person in no way has control over you.
Example:
- The terrorist groups were moved apart and overthrown as usual, they were not as strong as people thought they were.
Subjugate and crush
‘Subjugate and crush’ is one nice way to say ‘Divide and conquer.’
To subjugate is to bring someone or a group of people under your control.
When you subjugate and crush someone, you have brought that person under your control, you have made it so clear that you have taken full control and the person no longer can come against you.
Example:
- The easiest way to defeat the angry mob is to subjugate and crush them.
Sort out and repress
‘Sort out and repress’ is one of the best ways to say ‘Divide and conquer.’
When you sort out and repress someone or a group of people, it means you have put the person aside and also succeded in overcoming the person by bringing him under your control.
You can say that someone has successfully sorted out and repressed a group of people if the person has taken full control over them.
Example:
- The fastest way to stop the coup is to sort out and repress the group planning the coup.
Disunited and pulverized
‘Disunited and pulverized’ sounds better as a similar phrase to ‘Divide and conquer.’
Pulverize is a way of reducing someone or a group of people to fine particles. In this context, humans cannot be reduced to fine particles, it is safe to say that the humans were disunited or broken apart which made them reduce in number.
The breaking apart and reduction in the number of the group of people shows they have been defeated and they cannot be made to fight back.
Example:
- No one expected them to fight back, they were disunited and pulverized, who will be able to come back from such?
Parted and annihilated
‘Parted and annihilated’ is another good synonym for ‘Divide and conquer.’
When a group of people are parted and annihilated, they have been separated forcefully and they have also been annihilated. To annihilate is to destroy a group of people to the extent that nothing is remaining.
You could make them fight against one another which could lead to massive destruction. It is usually dangerous to annihilate people because it could lead to massive destruction of the people and infrastructure in that place.
Example:
- A single bomb can part and annihilate everyone in that country.
Cut apart and put down
Another way to say ‘Divide and conquer’ is ‘Cut apart and put down.’
To cut apart is to physically take them apart without any possibility of them ever coming back together. The group of people can hardly come back together after being cut apart because they have been put down, in this context, put down means they have been humiliated.
Usually, when you humiliate someone or a group of people, it is difficult to come out of that humiliation especially if it was done brutally.
People usually humiliate their opponents in battle because it is easier to cut them apart after humiliating them.
Example:
- The terrorist group did not have mercy, they took away the homes of the villagers, and they were cut apart and put down.
Cut in two and taken possession of
‘Cut in two and taken possession of’ is a similar phrase to ‘Divide and conquer.’
When you cut someone or a group of people in two, it means you have put them apart.
Doing this means they are no longer together which makes them more vulnerable. When someone is vulnerable, it is easy to take possession of them by having them under control.
The moment a group of people no longer have defense, meaning they have been cut in two, it is easier for them to be taken possession of because they have nothing to hold on to.
Taking possession of someone or a group of people means taking full control over them in such a way that they no longer have the power to fight back.
Example:
- The family of the deceased was cut in two and all their property was taken possession of.
Partitioned and taken control of
‘Partitioned and taken control of’ sounds like one of the similar phrases to ‘Divide and conquer.’
To partition means to divide. In this context, it can either be a person or a group of people. When a group is together they are often stronger, but the moment they are partitioned, it makes them vulnerable.
The moment they are partitioned, it will be easy for them to be taken control of. To take control of someone shows the person or group of people is no longer in control and can be tossed around.
Example:
- They lost the war because they were partitioned and taken control of.
Finally
The way you say something matters a lot, that is why you must use the right words in the right context. In this article, I explained the different phrases similar to ‘Divide and conquer.’
It will make it possible for you to know the tight time to use any of these similar phrases and where it will suit you best.