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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stifle
In junior tournaments, there can be stifling pressure on kids as young as 8.
—
Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
Her coming-of-age drama, which world premieres at the San Sebastian Film Festival’s New Directors sidebar, follows 13-year-old Laura who feels stifled in her new family.
—Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 22 Sep. 2025
That came as the daytime talk show did not address the Kimmel controversy last week, leading to some speculation that ABC was stifling the discussion.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 22 Sep. 2025
Cleveland possesses a very dangerous defense, and that was on full display, stifling the strong Packers offense through most of the game.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
Her coming-of-age drama, which world premieres at the San Sebastian Film Festival’s New Directors sidebar, follows 13-year-old Laura who feels stifled in her new family.
—Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 22 Sep. 2025
That came as the daytime talk show did not address the Kimmel controversy last week, leading to some speculation that ABC was stifling the discussion.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 22 Sep. 2025
Cleveland possesses a very dangerous defense, and that was on full display, stifling the strong Packers offense through most of the game.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifle
Verb
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From the outset of its full-scale invasion, Russia sought to strangle Ukraine’s economy by cutting off its maritime access.—
ANDRIY ZAGORODNYUK,
Foreign Affairs,
23 Sep. 2025
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That potential was strangled, Du Bois writes in this book, an essential look at governance and betrayal in America.—
Zephyr Teachout,
The Atlantic,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Advertisement Amazon still faces another lawsuit brought by the FTC in 2023, which alleged that the company is an exploitative monopoly and illegally suppressed competition among online marketplaces.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
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The threats are so vague, and government power so extensive, that this will undoubtedly drive widespread self-censorship and suppress free expression across many communities out of fear.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Twin Cities,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This is the perfect opportunity for the Business Roundtable to advocate for its members in a forceful, direct challenge to the administration, but it has been perplexingly muffled.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
21 Sep. 2025
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That should tug on our hearts since Willa’s worth caring for, but the emotional heft between dad and daughter gets muffled since there’s just not enough oxygen given to those scenes.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Foreign material in food products presents health risks, including choking, damage to teeth and digestive tract injury.—
Matthew Robinson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
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The punishment was allegedly being body slammed and choked.—
DeMicia Inman,
VIBE.com,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Reeves and Winter are often swallowed up by the bottomless void their characters occupy, with very little room to let loose and play.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
29 Sep. 2025
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Massive plumes of thick, black smoke filled the sky and swallowed up the tall, white spire.—
Holly Yan,
CNN Money,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Moyes’s game plan required the forward to hold the ball up, but he was smothered so effectively by Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk from the start.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
21 Sep. 2025
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About 50 firefighters had been assigned to smother the blaze in hills north of Vacaville.—
Grant Stringer,
Mercury News,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
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There are so many things that are being repressed here, and when Vivian brings them up her mother reacts poorly.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
24 Sep. 2025
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Judd and Warhol are so clean and repressed by comparison.—
Jerry Saltz,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The suffocating smell of overflowing ashtrays.—
Zuzana Říhová,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
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Travis Decker, the man believed to have suffocated and abandoned his three young daughters at a campsite in the Washington state wilderness, is dead, Chelan County authorities said Thursday.—
Cindy Von Quednow,
CNN Money,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifle. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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