Prefer vs Suggest - What's the difference?
prefer | suggest |
*, II.3.2:
*:Tiberius preferred many to honours in his time, because they were famous whoremasters and sturdy drinkers.
(lb) To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.
:
*
*:"My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects;."
(lb) To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").
*1630 , , True Travels , in Kupperman 1988, p.36:
*:one Master David Hume, who making some use of his purse, gave him Letters to his friends in Scotland to preferre him to King James.
*1817 , (Walter Scott), , XVII:
*:Such were the arguments which my will boldly preferred to my conscience, as coin which ought to be current, and which conscience, like a grumbling shopkeeper, was contented to accept.
prefer'' + noun + ''to'' (or ''over'') + noun. Example: ''I prefer coffee to tea .
* prefer'' + gerund + ''to'' (or ''over'') + gerund. Example: ''I prefer skiing to swimming .
* prefer'' + full infinitive + ''rather than'' + bare infinitive. Example: ''I prefer to eat fish rather than (eat) meat .
To imply but stop short of saying explicitly.
* (John Locke)
* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 14, author=Angelique Chrisafis, work=Guardian
, title= To make one suppose; cause one to suppose (something).
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 24, author=Nathan Rabin, work=The Onion AV Club
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author=
, volume=189, issue=10, page=15, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To ask for without demanding.
To recommend.
* , chapter=19
, title= (obsolete) To seduce; to prompt to evil; to tempt.
* (William Shakespeare)
In transitive terms the difference between prefer and suggest
is that prefer is to present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges") while suggest is to recommend.In obsolete transitive terms the difference between prefer and suggest
is that prefer is to put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend ({{term|to}}) while suggest is to seduce; to prompt to evil; to tempt.As verbs the difference between prefer and suggest
is that prefer is to advance, promote (someone) while suggest is to imply but stop short of saying explicitly.prefer
English
Alternative forms
* * preferreVerb
(preferr)Usage notes
* The verb can be used in three different forms: *Derived terms
* preference * preferentialsuggest
English
Verb
(en verb)- Some ideas are suggested to the mind by all the ways of sensation and reflection.
Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism, passage=She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.}}
Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3, passage=In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.}}
Sarah Boseley
Children shun vegetables and fruit, passage=The [British Heart Foundation's] data […] suggests there has been little improvement in eating, drinking and exercise habits in spite of the concern about obesity and the launch of the government's child measurement programme, which warns parents if their children are overweight. About a third of under-16s across the UK are either overweight or obese.}}
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.}}
- Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested .
