as in suffocating
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1
as in strangling
to be or cause to be killed by lack of breathable air
children should never play inside discarded appliances because they could become trapped and smother
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stifling
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
he quickly smothered his inappropriate laughter at the funeral ceremony
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3
as in burying
to defeat by a large margin
the soccer team smothered their first few opponents in the championships, but lost narrowly in the final round
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of smothering
Sj McShane, Martha Stewart, 10 June 2026
Pete Sampras and John McEnroe used their power serves and smothering net games.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 26 May 2026
Mired by the Texans’ smothering defense, Rodgers completed 17-of-33 passes for 146 yards, with no touchdowns, one interception and two fumbles.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 18 May 2026
The heat in the car is like an aunt who does not stop smothering us.
—Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
The Tigers’ defense was also smothering all game.
—Erik Anderson, Boston Herald, 18 May 2026
There’s probably a smart, chilling film to be made about the terrors of smothering and relentless adoration — one imagines what Rod Serling would have done with something like this — but this isn’t really that film.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 15 May 2026
More recently, massive desalination plants, which often double as electric power plants, have been dumping hot brine that rapidly sinks, smothering life at the Gulf’s bottom, Riegl says.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 14 May 2026
Plants grow rapidly in spring, smothering weeds and feeding the soil.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 9 May 2026
Verb
Natural methods like smothering with a tarp, flame weeding, or pulling by hand can effectively eliminate white clover.
—Sj McShane, Martha Stewart, 10 June 2026
Pete Sampras and John McEnroe used their power serves and smothering net games.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 26 May 2026
Mired by the Texans’ smothering defense, Rodgers completed 17-of-33 passes for 146 yards, with no touchdowns, one interception and two fumbles.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 18 May 2026
The heat in the car is like an aunt who does not stop smothering us.
—Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
The Tigers’ defense was also smothering all game.
—Erik Anderson, Boston Herald, 18 May 2026
There’s probably a smart, chilling film to be made about the terrors of smothering and relentless adoration — one imagines what Rod Serling would have done with something like this — but this isn’t really that film.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 15 May 2026
More recently, massive desalination plants, which often double as electric power plants, have been dumping hot brine that rapidly sinks, smothering life at the Gulf’s bottom, Riegl says.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 14 May 2026
Plants grow rapidly in spring, smothering weeds and feeding the soil.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 9 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smothering
Adjective
-
The pressure will be completely suffocating and unfair.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
12 June 2026
-
Following a first week marked by a suffocating heatwave, relief finally arrived in Paris on Sunday, with temperatures dropping to 21 degrees C (70 F) around midday.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
He had been arrested for allegedly strangling his then-girlfriend, Johnny Faye Cartwright, in 2020.—
Jennifer Maas,
Variety,
10 June 2026
-
Gas prices have jumped by well over a dollar a gallon since the war began, strangling shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz — a critical pathway for much of the world's oil supply.—
Scott Horsley,
NPR,
10 June 2026
Verb
-
How to analyze a poetics of irreverence and improvisation—of life experienced in a perpetual present—without stifling precisely these qualities?—
Joe Dunthorne,
The New York Review of Books,
6 June 2026
-
Indiana used a balanced offensive approach and stifling defense to bounce back and improve to 5-4.—
James Boyd,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Verb
-
Yet following closely behind is Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), Wardex’s nervy CEO, who’s intent on burying the facts out of fear that humanity can’t handle this mind-expanding knowledge.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
9 June 2026
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Keep the language concrete and avoid burying the point under explanation.—
Tarot.com,
The Orlando Sentinel,
6 June 2026
Adjective
-
High heat, oppressive humidity and a few thunderstorms are all in the weather forecast for the Boston area through Friday evening, so the WBZ-TV Weather Team has issued a NEXT Weather Alert.—
Terry Eliasen,
CBS News,
11 June 2026
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The story began with Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, getting hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
11 June 2026
Verb
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The man pushed her to the ground and began choking her before the victim fought him off and flagged down a passing driver for help.—
Todd Feurer,
CBS News,
8 June 2026
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Investigators said Mendoza admitted to choking McCree and striking him multiple times with a golf club, FOX 6 reported, citing court records.—
Sophia Compton,
FOXNews.com,
8 June 2026
Verb
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But the country’s key tool for suppressing the pest — a facility that breeds sterile flies to halt reproduction of the parasite — isn’t slated to begin operating until November 2027.—
Ilena Peng,
Fortune,
13 June 2026
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The health care provider would then diagnose a player with Parkinson’s and, usually, issue a prescription for levodopa, a medicine that treats Parkinson’s by masking or suppressing symptoms.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
10 June 2026
Verb
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The barriers our students face have changed over the years, but our commitment to overcoming them remains the same as always.—
Albert D. Mosley,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 June 2026
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Rather than scaling software, their approach focuses on overcoming physical bottlenecks—verified by the laws of physics—to build the foundational architecture for the broader space economy.—
Alexandra Vidyuk,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smothering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smothering. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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