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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
as in close
lacking fresh air
the lecture hall was stifling until we opened several windows
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in suppressing
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
stifled a yawn
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in muffling
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.
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Recent Examples of 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
Hanna Trudo, The Hill, 2 Jan. 2025
Oregon, on the other hand, struggled to sustain drives, scoring only once before the half and failing to get much going against Ohio State’s stifling defense.
—Anthony De Leon, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Verb
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
Verb
Some are now fearful Republicans are beginning to try to weaponize that small-dollar model against them, further stifling their ascent.
—Hanna Trudo, The Hill, 2 Jan. 2025
Oregon, on the other hand, struggled to sustain drives, scoring only once before the half and failing to get much going against Ohio State’s stifling defense.
—Anthony De Leon, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifle
Adjective
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Read More: The Real Danger of the Trump-Putin Summit At the press conference, Putin talked about how close Russia was to America (shades of Sarah Palin) and claimed that Russian trade with American has increased by 20%.—
Richard Stengel,
Time,
16 Aug. 2025
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Still, don’t fully count out the Cajuns — at least to keep it close.—
Maddie Hartley
August 15,
Kansas City Star,
15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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And with the team operating under the suffocating grip of new CBA, every dollar must work overtime.—
Brian Sampson,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
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But Finch was unable to come up with any schematic answers for OKC’s suffocating defense or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ruthlessness on offense.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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Her palette was extremely clean and very refined, a lot of it was architectural, but didn't feel too stuffy.—
Rachel Elspeth Gross,
Forbes.com,
20 July 2025
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While many fragrance houses feel unapproachable—too old, too stuffy, too expensive—Tom Ford’s have a personableness to them.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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Moore sprinted down the field in celebration of his game-saving play with 29 seconds left that gave UCLA an unexpectedly breathless 27-20 victory.—
Ben Bolch,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Nov. 2024
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Jerry Coyne has a post up which critiques an extremely breathless review of a new book, Epigenetics Revolution.—
Razib Khan,
Discover Magazine,
24 Aug. 2011
Cite this Entry
“Stifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifle. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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