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The Latin word suffendere, ancestor to suffuse by way of Latin suffūsus, has various meanings that shed light on our modern word, among them "to pour on or in (as an addition)" and "to fill with a liquid, color, or light that wells up from below." It’s no surprise, then, that suffuse refers to the action of fluid or light spreading over or through something, as when light fills a dark room when you crack open a door. Suffundere is a blend of the prefix sub- ("under" or "beneath") and the verb fundere ("to pour" or "to send forth"). Other English verbs related to fundere continue the theme of pouring or spreading: diffuse ("to pour out and spread freely"), effuse ("to pour or flow out"), transfuse ("to cause to pass from one to another"), and the verb fuse itself when it's used to mean "to meld or join."
Synonyms
Examples of suffuse in a Sentence
Dory Jackson, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024
American to the core but reminiscent of long-ago European saints: self-scourging, infected, suffering, yet suffused with an unlikely bliss.
—Elizabeth Barber, Harper's Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024
The moment when Sol is finally permitted to see her father is fleeting, piercing and suffused with the most helpless kind of love.
—Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2024
What’s wonderful about Volcano is that Murphy’s background — and immense skill — as a dancer suffuses the piece with a distinctive, high-voltage theatricality that is, at least for me, more richly ambiguous and more compelling than the riddle of the plot.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 25 Jan. 2024
That embrace of the founder myth suffuses Elon Musk, Schwartz’s analysis of which is both surgical and undeniable.
—Longreads, 15 Mar. 2024
The movie, about two cousins sharing an apartment in Istanbul, was an odd-couple comedy in a wistful key, suffused with a bone-deep sense of alienation—social, economic, spiritual—that has haunted his films ever since.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2024
Entertainment & Arts By exploring L.A.’s racial injustice, Luis Valdez’s ‘Zoot Suit’ gave birth to Chicano theater
June 2, 2023
Jackson’s ideals suffused the L.A. community where she was raised.
—Reed Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2024
From medieval sailors buried beneath the cobblestone streets in Visby to the ruins of Norse shipyards where longboats were built 1,000 years ago, ancient maritime lore suffuses the island.
—Julia Zaltzman, Robb Report, 18 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'suffuse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
borrowed from Latin suffūsus, past participle of suffundere "to pour on or in (as an addition), cause (a liquid, color, light) to well up or rise to the surface, fill with a liquid, color or light that wells up from below," from suf-, assimilated form of sub- sub- + fundere "to pour, shed, cast, send forth, disperse" — more at found entry 5
1590, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Suffuse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suffuse. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
suffuse
verb
Medical Definition
suffuse
transitive verb
More from Merriam-Webster on suffuse
Nglish: Translation of suffuse for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of suffuse for Arabic Speakers
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