The most common meaning of subjugate is "subdue, oppress."
The notion of subjugate derives from subiugāre , a Latin word. The concept refers to exercising dominance or control through force .
Subdue or oppress
Subjugating, in this framework, consists of subduing or oppressing . For example : “We are not going to let a foreign power dedicate itself to subjugating our people” , “My boss has the soul of a tyrant, he loves to subjugate his employees” , “Sexist men who try to subjugate women must be punished” .
For this meaning, we can mention overwhelm, vex, dominate and imprison , as some of the most used synonyms. In the first example sentence, the speaker refuses to let a foreign power "dominate" his people. Similarly, the second tells us that a man has an overbearing and oppressive attitude towards his employees. Finally, the subjugation of women is one of the main and most regrettable features of machismo. It is clear that the meaning of this term has a negative connotation in these three examples, although we will see other nuances later.
In different areas
The idea of subjugation usually appears in the field of politics . A government, to cite one case, can subjugate citizens or a community by not respecting their rights. Suppose that a subject comes to power through a coup d'état , dissolves the Legislative Branch and begins to persecute members of a certain ethnic group. This person, in this framework, is subjugating those whom his regime harasses and attacks: in other words, there are individuals who are victims of the oppressor.
At the level of sport, subjugating is linked to defeating . A tennis player subjugates his rival, to mention one possibility, when he manages to win a match. The same can be said of the soccer team that easily defeats its opponent.
Enchant
Another use of subjugate, meanwhile, refers to enthrall . The action involves captivating or enrapturing through some quality or characteristic: “The girl has the power to subjugate all the people in the neighborhood,” “I am not going to let myself be subjugated by the lights of fame,” “I didn't know that the landscape was going to subjugate me.”
In this case, the meaning of the word subjugate is related to the senses, with a captivating or captivating effect that something or someone produces in them. Let's look at the three examples in greater detail to explore this meaning, less used than the previous one. Let's start with the sentence that talks about a girl who is capable of subjugating those around her; There are people who, due to their charismatic personality and natural charm, involuntarily dazzle everyone who crosses their path.
If the characteristics of something or someone dazzle us, we can say that they subjugate us.
To subjugate others in this way it is not necessary to do anything in particular, but to be yourself. Of course, it is achieved by those who have been endowed with certain characteristics, physical or charisma, that cannot be obtained through will. Before continuing, we can mention some of its most used synonyms in this framework: dominate, enchant, attract, seduce and marvel .
Relying on these other words we can better understand the sentence about "the lights of fame", since in this case the sender assures that he will not allow them to seduce him, attract him to the point of preventing him from making his own decisions . Finally, we have an example in which the effect of the thing that subjugates is not dominant, although it does have a strong impact on the senses : the landscape leaves the sender speechless, but does not lead him to lose control of his life, as it could. happen to him with a person who dazzled him.