She subdued/suppressed her ambition...

Question

HiAre these expressions natural and do they carry the same meaning?She subdued her ambition to the needs of her family.She suppressed her ambition to the needs of her family.Thanks,Tom

Deadrat · Accepted Answer

"Subdue" means to quiet or overcome.  "Suppress" means to conceal.  Neither of these verbs is idiomatic with to+object.  I think the word you want is "subordinated."

Mr. Tom · Answer

Thanks, deadrat.

I have two questions. 1) What about the word subjugate? Does that work with here?

She subjugated her ambition to the needs of her family

2) Do the original sentences with the words subdue and suppress sound wrong to your native ears? Or just less natural?

Tom

Deadrat · Answer

"Subjugate" means vanquish, which isn't quite right here, and like "subdue" and "suppress," it won't work with "to the needs."  All three sound wrong to my ears.

Mr. Tom · Answer

Thanks a lot deadrat and MM.

It took me a few days to respond because I couldn't recall at all where I had seen the original sentence. No, it was not suppress or subdue, but it was subjugate.

Can we discuss it a bit further please?

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/subjugate

Tom

Deadrat · Answer

Sure enough. There it is with the imprimatur of Oxford, no less:

Her personal ambitions had been subjugated to (= considered less important than) the needs of her family.

"Subjugate" comes form the Latin "sub" (under) + "jugum" (yoke), and it always takes the sense of one party conquering or bringing under complete control another party. This isn't to say that the parties can't be figurative. Thus

His vices subjugated his conscience.

and when we transpose this to the passive, the prepositions "by" and "to" are possible, with the former seeming to be more popular than the latter, if the intertubes can be believed:

His conscience was subjugated to/by his vices.

I have two problems with the dictionary example. First of all, "subjugated" simply doesn't mean "to be considered less important than." It means vanquished. Secondly, the struggle in which ambition loses is one that has to take place in her mind, so the winner has to reside there as well:

Because of the needs of her family, her sense of duty subjugated her personal ambitions.
Because of the needs of her family, her personal ambitions were subjugated to her sense of duty.

The needs of her family are merely a condition, not a combatant.

What's more, we have a word that means "considered less important than," namely "subordinated," from the Latin word for "of inferior rank." So family needs, higher rank of priority; her personal ambitions, lower rank.

She subdued/suppressed her ambition...

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Her personal ambitions had been subjugated to (= considered less important than) the needs of her family.

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