Synonyms of stifling

stifling 1 of 2

adjective

as in close

lacking fresh air

the lecture hall was stifling until we opened several windows

Synonyms & Similar Words

• close
• suffocating
• stuffy
• breathless
• thick
• oppressive
• heavy
• airless
• unventilated
• fuggy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• breezy
• airy
• refreshing
• sweet
• bracing
• reviving
• brisk
• restorative
• unstuffy
• invigorating
• ventilated
• refreshed

stifling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of stifle

1

as in strangling

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

• strangling
• choking
• suffocating
• smothering
• drowning
• destroying
• asphyxiating
• throttling
• slaying
• garroting
• dispatching
• felling
• doing in
• croaking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• breathing
• inhaling
• inspiring
• expiring
• exhaling
• reviving
• resuscitating

2

as in suppressing

to refrain from openly showing or uttering

stifled a yawn

Synonyms & Similar Words

• suppressing
• swallowing
• repressing
• controlling
• smothering
• strangling
• managing
• choking (back)
• containing
• holding back
• submerging
• sinking
• pocketing
• curbing
• governing
• quelling
• quashing
• checking
• muffling
• bridling
• squelching
• bottling up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• expressing
• venting
• releasing
• taking out
• unleashing
• loosing

3

as in muffling

to deaden the sound of

he stifled a cough with his hand

Synonyms & Similar Words

• muffling
• muting
• insulating
• softening
• padding
• mellowing
• baffling
• toning (down)
• smothering
• dampening
• subduing
• soundproofing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• increasing
• deepening
• enhancing
• strengthening
• unmuffling
• heightening
• amplifying
• boosting
• magnifying
• stepping up

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of stifling

Adjective

For all the deserved talk about the Knicks’ dynamic offense, the defense has been far more stifling than their reputation suggests. —Fred Katz, New York Times, 15 May 2026

Her mother, who had a staid upbringing in California, came to New York in the early sixties looking for someplace more diverse and less stifling. —Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2026

Verb

How to analyze a poetics of irreverence and improvisation—of life experienced in a perpetual present—without stifling precisely these qualities? —Joe Dunthorne, The New York Review of Books, 6 June 2026

Indiana used a balanced offensive approach and stifling defense to bounce back and improve to 5-4. —James Boyd, New York Times, 5 June 2026

Players from the top European teams, like Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, had already played sixty matches during their regular seasons, before taking to pitches in heat-dome temperatures of ninety-seven degrees and stifling humidity. —Sam Knight, New Yorker, 1 June 2026

Everyone was very, very, very religious, but specifically Christianity and Catholicism, which in my opinion are very stifling religions that are very God-fearing. —Louis Staples, Glamour, 27 May 2026

Since the party rose to power in 2014, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm, critics have accused it of stifling civil liberties and the press, pursuing a Hindu-first agenda, and inflaming religious divisions within India’s secular democracy. —Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 22 May 2026

In a new statement, Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana emphasizes the company’s position that prediction markets can be additive to the reality TV experience, creating excitement rather than stifling viewership. —Selome Hailu, Variety, 22 May 2026

Proponents of alternative insurance argue that stifling these more affordable options will just increase the ranks of those without any coverage. —Sarah Kwon, CBS News, 20 May 2026

The open-source software movement, partly a political project to protect the freedom to tinker and prevent corporate oligarchies from stifling innovation, would become a cornerstone of the technology industry. —Jonathan Weber, Fortune, 19 May 2026