as in suppressed
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1
as in strangled
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 swallowed
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
stifled a yawn
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in muffled
to deaden the sound of
he stifled a cough with his hand
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stifled
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
ABC News,
19 June 2026
But against a suffocating new-look defense spearheaded by Williams, the Valkyries stifled Plum to the tune of a season-low nine points on 3-of-10 shooting and just 2 of 3 from the free throw line.
—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
16 June 2026
However, the 22-year-old Melbourne City goalkeeper did on the day with multiple saves that stifled Turkey.
—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
14 June 2026
This poor girl no longer has an identity beyond pleasing her male companion, who becomes both stifled by alarmed by this sudden, non-consensual change in personality.
—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
However, the more decor displayed in your living room, the more stifled the space will feel.
—
Ashlyn Needham,
The Spruce,
4 June 2026
The war has stifled the flow of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
—
Damian J. Troise,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
And while the state has seen strong GDP growth in recent months, business groups still worry that this economic success could be stifled by limited job growth and economic uncertainty in the wake of federal policy changes.
—
P.r. Lockhart,
Hartford Courant,
17 May 2026
Embarrassed in the first period, stifled in the second, the Avs did something that almost never happens in this town with this team.
—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
14 May 2026
Adjective
Literature, in his view, was a susurrus of stifled screams, a missive from the netherworld of the collective imaginary.
—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Verb
Saif Hassan scored 42 in 33 deliveries but Australia's spinners stifled Bangladesh in the middle overs.
—
ABC News,
19 June 2026
But against a suffocating new-look defense spearheaded by Williams, the Valkyries stifled Plum to the tune of a season-low nine points on 3-of-10 shooting and just 2 of 3 from the free throw line.
—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
16 June 2026
However, the 22-year-old Melbourne City goalkeeper did on the day with multiple saves that stifled Turkey.
—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
14 June 2026
This poor girl no longer has an identity beyond pleasing her male companion, who becomes both stifled by alarmed by this sudden, non-consensual change in personality.
—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
However, the more decor displayed in your living room, the more stifled the space will feel.
—
Ashlyn Needham,
The Spruce,
4 June 2026
The war has stifled the flow of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
—
Damian J. Troise,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
And while the state has seen strong GDP growth in recent months, business groups still worry that this economic success could be stifled by limited job growth and economic uncertainty in the wake of federal policy changes.
—
P.r. Lockhart,
Hartford Courant,
17 May 2026
Embarrassed in the first period, stifled in the second, the Avs did something that almost never happens in this town with this team.
—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
14 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifled
Adjective
-
General Manager Ken Holland hinted at potentially being done after trading center Phillip Danault for a draft pick in December and acquiring Panarin at a suppressed price in February, though he has been known to under-promise often and, sometimes, over-deliver.
-
Supervising sound editor Alastair Sirkett told IndieWire that Peter Claffey’s big, former-rugby-player frame really helps that moment sing with suppressed panic.
Verb
-
One woman says the woman who was being strangled was nearly dead when the attacker was confronted.
-
Instead, the men were beaten to death and strangled in a basement.
Verb
-
Mount Baldy made headlines in 2013 when a 6-year-old boy was suddenly swallowed by the dune, prompting rescues to frantically dig him out.
-
The parade swallowed ordinary city life, too.
Verb
-
Everything feels muffled, with such heavy carpeting.
-
Their replies are muffled by their hands blocking their mouths.
Adjective
-
Zhang, delivering his first fully Cantonese-language performance on the big screen, portrays a repressed small-time man caught between competing versions of reality.
-
Grappling with grief Everything – the tough love, the repressed feelings, the cruelty of his father’s illness – is tumbling out of Sanders.
Verb
-
All of that oil stuck behind a barrage of missiles and sea lanes choked with mines led a number of respected oil analysts to predict that oil prices would surge as high as $150, or even $200 by the summer.
-
In recent days, the property remained largely fallow, other than the thick underbrush and countless weeds that choked the site, which is about one-third of an acre in size, this news organization’s direct observation of the property shows.
Verb
-
Ayari scored twice in the team’s opener against Tunisia but muted his celebrations out of respect for his father’s home country.
-
Without reparative justice, Juneteenth is muted, symbolic, but not transformative.
Adjective
-
When monitoring wanes and enforcement fades, workers pay the price first in wages and safety, then in silenced voices and must choose between an empty stomach and their rights.
Cite this Entry
“Stifled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifled. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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