1
as in to strangle
to be or cause to be killed by lack of breathable air
unfortunately, the robbers were stifled when they got trapped in the airless bank vault
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to suppress
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
stifled a yawn
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stifle
But rather than breathing a little more life into a group that had begun playing with an already pretty good pulse, his presence mystifyingly stifled it.
—
Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 23 Mar. 2026
The Loons have struggled with slow starts this season, so the early focus was to stifle everything.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 22 Mar. 2026
But head coach Ryun Williams' team couldn't stifle a rally by the Spartans and fell behind in the second half.
—Jesse Sarles, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2026
The lawsuits make similar arguments that the deal will lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle local journalism.
—Arkansas Online, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 23 Mar. 2026
The Loons have struggled with slow starts this season, so the early focus was to stifle everything.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 22 Mar. 2026
But head coach Ryun Williams' team couldn't stifle a rally by the Spartans and fell behind in the second half.
—Jesse Sarles, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2026
The lawsuits make similar arguments that the deal will lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle local journalism.
—Arkansas Online, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifle
Verb
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That’s a dynamic that strangled the labor market.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
29 Mar. 2026
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As of March 23, 2026, the global energy market is no longer governed by the invisible hand of economics; it is being strangled by the rigid, non-negotiable laws of engineering.—
Siddharth Misra,
Fortune,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The San Bernardino County Fire Department tested new technology on Monday designed to help suppress fires by using sound waves.—
Joy Benedict,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
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Acknowledge anxiety, sadness or grief with openness, instead of trying to suppress those feelings or fueling them with harsh self-criticism.—
J. David Creswell,
The Conversation,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Indeed, attempts to muffle criticism have backfired, some observers believe.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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Their calls are often muffled by static and wind because his cousin uses two phones to conduct them — one to call Fattahi and the other to reach his mother.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Billy Randolph had shaped them and how his death had altered their lives, responses came after long pauses and were choked with grief.—
Emerson Clarridge
Updated March 27,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
28 Mar. 2026
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Or perhaps the team was shellshocked by the Netflix spectacle that delayed the game 20-something minutes and choked the field with fireworks smoke.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The agency said metal bristles can break off, stick to grill grates and be swallowed, potentially lodging in the throat or digestive tract and causing internal injuries.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
27 Mar. 2026
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In Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 film Modern Times, a factory worker struggles to keep pace with an ever-accelerating assembly line—until the machine swallows him whole.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But UConn’s smothering defense forced five turnovers against the junior guard and limited the rest of her team to just 30 points.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
29 Mar. 2026
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In the West, a smothering heat dome moved east after almost two weeks of record March temperatures; four spots in Arizona and California hit 112 degrees, and dozens of locations set heat records all the way to Pennsylvania and South Carolina.—
Robert Abitbol,
USA Today,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Trident and the Times/Herald made public records requests seeking any motions to repress the report.—
Lawrence Mower,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2026
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The Trident and the Herald/Times made public records requests seeking any motions to repress the report.—
Alexandra Glorioso,
Miami Herald,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Wave have been suffocating teams defensively, and that continued on Saturday night, with Chicago not recording a shot until the 70th minute.—
Fernando Ramirez,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
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Today, two small new volcanoes are growing out of its bay, and another one called Kolumbo — capable of producing fearsome tsunamis and clouds of suffocating gases — lurks underwater just offshore.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifle. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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