stifle

verb

ˈstī-fəl How to pronounce stifle (audio)
Definition of stiflenext
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

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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
3
as in to muffle
to deaden the sound of he stifled a cough with his hand

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of stifle The Canal+ Group’s shuttering of the Showmax streaming service earlier this year was just the latest example of how a distribution chokepoint is stifling Africa’s creative boom. — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026 As for whether the report helps prompt change or becomes yet another weighty academic doorstop, that remains to be seen at City Hall, where entrenched political power often combines with bureaucratic inertia to stifle innovation. — A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 13 Oct. 2026 Those games were against three of the NFL’s top defenses, including the defending-champion Seattle Seahawks, who similarly stifled Maye and the Patriots in Super Bowl LX. — Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 13 Oct. 2026 Perhaps her biggest challenge is combating the misconception that cystic fibrosis has been cured, which stifles investment into new treatments. — Gerry Smith, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for stifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifle
  1. strangle
  2. suppress
  3. muffle
  4. choke
  5. swallow
  6. smother
  7. repress
  8. suffocate
Verb
  • In a counter claim, Xuan accused Diaz of being drunk at work and trying to strangle him.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The latest slate of attacks is strangling a recovery in movement throughout the strait that had been building for weeks.
    — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of strangle
Verb
  • Optional filters can be slotted in each module (when available) to suppress city lighting, adjust for solar imagery, and cater for different wavelengths.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 15 Oct. 2026
  • But Uthmeier contends an overly broad reading of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause has been twisted into a tool to suppress Christians and other believers.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of suppress
Verb
  • Attempts to muffle creative voices through bullying and strong-arm tactics are fundamentally anti-American and have become all too common in recent years.
    — Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2026
  • After two hours of practice, with the 10-foot-tall fences doing little to muffle the bullhorn orders and corresponding groans, the huddle broke and the personalities sprung to life.
    — Noah White, Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of muffle
Verb
  • On top of store closures and unsold inventory, the company was choking on enormous debt from a private equity buyout in 2014.
    — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026
  • DeShantz is also accused of choking the woman and throwing her to the ground outside of his home in the city's Allentown neighborhood.
    — Mike Darnay, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of choke
Verb
  • In many of his shots, the big sky of Ukraine’s fields and steppe swallows the frame.
    — Sophie Pinkham, The New York Review of Books, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Pike has pneumonia and a blood clot in one of her arms, and is not able to swallow and therefore not eating, Spivey said Wednesday.
    — Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of swallow
Verb
  • Top with reserved hazelnuts and press in gently to adhere (surface will be smothered with nuts).
    — Tanya Bush, Bon Appetit Magazine, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Its wind patterns smothered almost any wisp of a storm from strengthening in the Atlantic, while boosting what will soon be record high levels in the Pacific, Klotzbach said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of smother
Verb
  • Jeffrey Jarquín, 35, was taken directly from the deportation flight to Nicaragua’s notorious Modelo prison, where he had been held previously for participating in pro-democracy marches that were violently repressed by President Daniel Ortega.
    — Ismael López, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Gordon is determined to surface elements of self that society seeks to repress.
    — Chanel Miller, Time, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of repress
Verb
  • Montanans are suffocating due to an affordability crisis, rising fuel prices and an inexplicable war.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Hernandez, 43, and Ulani Nunes, 23 are accused of suffocating Manuel Mendez in order to take his money three days before his body was found wrapped in a shower curtain, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
    — Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of suffocate

Browse Nearby Words

stiffs
stifle
stifled
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Cite this Entry

“Stifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifle. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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