100-x) at.% Ba 0.6 Sr 0.4 TiO 3 -x at.% Y 2 O 3 (BST/Y 2 O 3 ) composite ceramics were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction methods. Phase constitution, microstructure, and element distribution of the composite ceramics were characterized, and the dielectric properties of BST/Y 2 O 3 composite ceramics were measured. The results revealed that some of Y 3? were dissolved into the lattice of BST and the rest remained at grain boundaries in oxide form of Y 2 O 3 . With the increase of the content of Y 2 O 3 , Curie peak of BST/Y 2 O 3 composite ceramics moved to a lower temperature, the dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss of BST/Y 2 O 3 composite ceramics decreased significantly, meanwhile, the dielectric tunability still maintains a relatively high value. Furthermore, a multipolarization mechanism model is employed to describe the field dependence of the dielectric permittivity in BST/Y 2 O 3 composite, which suggests that the existence of the second phase of Y 2 O 3 diminishes the contribution of polar clusters in BST matrix, leading to the decrease of dielectric tunability. P-E loop measurement indicates that the breakdown strength of BST/Y 2 O 3 ceramics increases during addition of Y 2 O 3 in BST matrix. Therefore, the BST/Y 2 O 3 composites with good tunable dielectric properties and enhanced breakdown strength can be exploited for phase shifter and capacitor device applications.