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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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
On Day 1 in pads, Pittsburgh’s run defense stifled the first-team offense, stopping almost every run with little or no gain.
—
Mike Defabo, New York Times, 31 July 2025
Communication has likely been somewhat stifled by the June shutdown of the Futurehome user forum, though.
—Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 28 July 2025
Tariffs still a danger Commentary around Wall Street following the U.S-EU deal for 15% tariffs echoed the belief that the recession risk had dimmed, even if tariffs still have the strong potential to exert a stifling impact on growth.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 28 July 2025
Not enough listening and too much talking may stifle great business ideas that get drowned out.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 27 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Mike Defabo, New York Times, 31 July 2025
Communication has likely been somewhat stifled by the June shutdown of the Futurehome user forum, though.
—Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 28 July 2025
Tariffs still a danger Commentary around Wall Street following the U.S-EU deal for 15% tariffs echoed the belief that the recession risk had dimmed, even if tariffs still have the strong potential to exert a stifling impact on growth.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 28 July 2025
Not enough listening and too much talking may stifle great business ideas that get drowned out.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 27 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifle
Verb
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Donald has two open criminal contempt cases, including one for allegedly strangling his husband twice in one night, PIX11 reported, citing prosecutors.—
Becca Longmire,
People.com,
5 Aug. 2025
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Myers was strangled with her pantyhose, and Eckart with her shoelace and a strap from her overalls.—
Kristine Phillips,
IndyStar,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The warming can leap back without something to suppress it.—
Chris Mooney,
CNN Money,
19 Aug. 2025
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The air force said Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles into Ukraine, of which 30 drones and six missiles were intercepted or suppressed.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Following Heath Ledger’s Joker performance in The Dark Knight was always going to be a difficult task, and this movie’s sound design (like Dunkirk’s) does Hardy a disservice by muffling so much of his dialogue as Bane through that damn mask.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
25 Apr. 2025
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Through new policies and aggressive cuts, the administration is taking steps that will encourage more pollution while muffling the science that shows the harms.—
Zoë Schlanger,
The Atlantic,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Montgomery County Jail records showed that the athlete was arrested following an incident at his home that same morning and is accused of assaulting and choking or suffocating an individual.—
Anna Lazarus Caplan,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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He was accused of choking Jacob and then two hours later choking him again and hitting him in the face.—
Rebecca White,
New York Daily News,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Although swallowing a small amount of meconium is safe, breathing it in can cause serious respiratory issues.—
David Chiu,
People.com,
17 Aug. 2025
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Joy isn’t coming, though, Miranda tells her, because her dog swallowed something.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The fish held up in crispiness over the course of the meal despite being smothered in togarashi sauce.—
Irene Milanez,
Sacbee.com,
28 July 2025
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The creamy, rich, and cheesy potato dish is perfect alongside a short stack of pancakes smothered in their addictive butter syrup.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
26 July 2025
Verb
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Very few advocated for the kind of theocracy that eventually emerged and went on to repress all non-Islamists.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
5 Aug. 2025
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Jiang Zemin quietly arrived in Beijing in the middle of the protests to succeed Zhao, in part because party elites saw Jiang as someone who was ideologically palatable to all sides but a hard-liner on repressing protest.—
TYLER JOST,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Compared to the haze of Lollapalooza Day 1, the washout redux of NASCAR weekend and the action-alert heat that’s suffocated the city since June, Saturday afternoon in Grant Park was Chicago finally showing its best.—
Lily Carey,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Aug. 2025
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Embracing private relationships, then, is partly Gen Z’s way of rejecting the suffocating pressures of perfection and returning to the value of real-life displays of affection.—
Kameryn Griesser,
CNN Money,
22 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifle. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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