as in stifled
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
choked back a sarcastic reply to an insulting question
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for choked (back)
Verb
-
Arsenal have recently looked stifled in a way that the creative department of a title-challenging team, high on its own output, should not.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026 -
Minnesota got power play goals from Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek and a shorthanded goal from Matt Boldy, but was stifled defensively much of the night, most notably at even strength.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
25 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
At home, the Guard’s Basij volunteer arm brutally suppressed recent nationwide protests, establishing itself as the theocracy’s primary tool for squashing dissent.—
Jon Gambrell,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
-
This led organically to feelings of love for one’s Black nannies and friendship with the children of your Black live-in maids, but this warmth had to be suppressed.—
Eve Fairbanks,
The Dial,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The story follows a scuba diver in search of his deceased father’s remains who gets swallowed by an 80-foot, 60-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
26 Jan. 2026
-
With tech earnings season kicking into high gear next week, Wall Street will start to get a clearer picture of where particular companies stand in adopting AI or getting swallowed by it.—
Seema Mody,
CNBC,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Other candidates had secured a plethora of media interviews, but Warsh held back.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
30 Jan. 2026
-
On the Senate side, the Appropriations Committee held back three of 32 bills.—
Kate Wolffe,
Sacbee.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Choked (back).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/choked%20%28back%29. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
