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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stifle
The Blue Devils got 10 points from Patrick Ngongba and used a stifling defense to limit Texas to 32% shooting and force 16 turnovers.
—
Lia Assimakopoulos, Dallas Morning News, 27 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
With the new guidance — which legal and media experts said would be hard to enforce and could stifle free speech — the FCC questioned whether late-night and daytime talk shows deserve an exemption from the equal-time rules for broadcast stations using the public airwaves.
—Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2026
Diminishing the quality of the state’s public-school system will stifle its economy.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Lia Assimakopoulos, Dallas Morning News, 27 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
With the new guidance — which legal and media experts said would be hard to enforce and could stifle free speech — the FCC questioned whether late-night and daytime talk shows deserve an exemption from the equal-time rules for broadcast stations using the public airwaves.
—Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2026
Diminishing the quality of the state’s public-school system will stifle its economy.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifle
Verb
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Fujita was 20 in 2013 when he was found guilty of strangling and stabbing his former high school girlfriend to death in Wayland.—
Matt Schooley,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
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Mostly, though, Boland strangles batters with his suffocating and deadly-accurate line and length.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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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
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Is grief, guilt, or shame suppressing your willpower?—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Highway traffic may have muffled the sound of gunshots.—
Graham Womack
Updated January 15,
Sacbee.com,
16 Jan. 2026
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Kubiak found that easy to navigate with a conservative game plan in the season finale at the 49ers with a rushing attack that had 39 attempts for 180 yards while the Seahawks’ defense was muffling the opposition.—
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Kenya choked under the dictatorship of Daniel arap Moi, who ruled from 1978 to 2002.—
Binaifer Nowrojee,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
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Just weeks after heroically saving a neighbor’s choking 1-year-old girl, an NYPD officer was at it again, saving the life of a 2-year-old boy who had stopped breathing in his Bronx home.—
Barry Williams,
New York Daily News,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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For any deal to be signed into law, however, will require a give-and-take that Democrats might find difficult to swallow.—
David Sivak,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Jan. 2026
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Among the untold thousands of children nationwide who have been swallowed up in ICE dragnets, six of them are students in the Columbia Heights school district.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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That is some smothering defense!—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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The matrilineal passage of power—made known by crying tears of blood—has been smothered and controlled by men, but thanks to their new abilities, the twins escape their mother and her malicious husband.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The state ultimately repressed this uprising, but also loosened some of its rules.—
Nahid Siamdoust,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
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Violent crime is also common, and the government violently represses journalists and dissidents.—
Syra Ortiz Blanes,
Miami Herald,
16 Jan. 2026
Verb
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For hours, in the suffocating heat, Dooley sifted through endless accounts of mundane colonial matters—church records, itemizations, legal disputes, petty complaints.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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The lopsided score was a result of suffocating defense from the Chieftains, who never allowed Swampscott (10-2) to gain even an iota of rhythm on offense.—
Justin Barrasso,
Boston Herald,
24 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifle. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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