CHOKING (BACK) Synonyms: 28 Similar and Opposite Words

choking (back)

verb

Definition of choking (back)

present participle of choke (back)

as in stifling

to refrain from openly showing or uttering choked back a sarcastic reply to an insulting question

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for choking (back)

Verb

Most critically, the stifling political atmosphere Xi has created is draining Beijing’s ability to respond to emerging problems as earlier generations once did.

— Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026
The government has been widely accused of stealing elections, jailing dissidents and stifling freedom of speech.

— Clyburn Saint John, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of stifling

Verb

Dan Levy is not holding back his thoughts on Shane Gillis‘ Saturday Night Live monologue.

— Denise Petski, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2026
Ocean container volume was flat from a year ago (although up since Q1 as Sean will explain), so the improvement there came from carriers holding back capacity, not from more boxes moving.

— Josh Brown,Sean Russo, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of holding back

Verb

According to Iran Human Rights Monitor, the force has evolved into a powerful internal security institution involved in suppressing anti-government demonstrations, monitoring political activity and enforcing the regime's ideological restrictions.

— Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2026
Cybersecurity specialist Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) decides to turn whistleblower upon discovering that the US government has been suppressing evidence of extra-terrrestrial life, as part of a cover-up that goes back decades.

— Tom Bailey, Space.com, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of suppressing

Verb

After decades of repression, Egyptians were shaken by the brutal 2010 torture and killing of Khaled Saeed, a 28-year-old from Alexandria, who the police claimed had died after swallowing a packet of drugs.

— Abdelrahman ElGendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Sherrilyn Ifill, former head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and one of the film’s most prominent legal voices, says DuVernay was unusually good at keeping all that expertise from swallowing the movie.

— David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of swallowing

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Browse Nearby Words

choking

choking (back)

choking off

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“Choking (back).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/choking%20%28back%29. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of choking (back)

verb

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