stifle
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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stifles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stifled,
past participle, past
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stifling
present participle
verb (used without object)
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stifles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stifled,
past participle, past
-
stifling
present participle
-
to suffer from difficulty in breathing, as in a close atmosphere.
-
to become stifled or suffocated.
noun
verb
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(tr) to smother or suppress
stifle a cough
-
to feel or cause to feel discomfort and difficulty in breathing
-
to prevent or be prevented from breathing so as to cause death
-
(tr) to crush or stamp out
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stiflesimple
-
stiflessimple
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have stifledperfect
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has stifledperfect
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am stiflingprogressive
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are stiflingprogressive
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is stiflingprogressive
-
have been stiflingperfect progressive
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has been stiflingperfect progressive
Past
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stifledsimple
-
had stifledperfect
-
was stiflingprogressive
-
were stiflingprogressive
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had been stiflingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stifle1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English from Old Norse stīfla “to stop up, dam,” akin to stīfr “stiff”
Origin of stifle2
1275–1325; Middle English < ?
Explanation
To stifle is to cut off, hold back, or smother. You may stifle your cough if you don't want to interrupt a lecture or you may stifle the competition if you fear losing. The verb stifle means “to choke, suffocate, drown.” It can describe a claustrophobic feeling, like getting smothered by kisses from your great aunt. At its most extreme, stifle means to kill by cutting off respiration. The metaphoric sense of stifle didn’t develop until well after the word was first recorded as a verb: "I can always tell — but never let on for fear of damaging his ego — that my boyfriend attempts to stifle tears during sappy parts of movies; his eyes well up at the corners and he’ll sniffle uncontrollably, claiming allergies."
Vocabulary lists containing stifle
The Diary of Anne Frank
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"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I will never stifle the growth of technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution,” Trump said on Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
But a lack of actuators and other components could stifle those designs, experts like Cardenas say.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
Trying to stifle anger over this may be the single most common topic in Christian marital advice content.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
The US is not going to "stifle the growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution," he added.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Something about this particular memory made her shake her head, stifle a laugh, and stare out the window with a wide smile—like the opposite of an ache, more like a relief.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
A powerful military gives the country global influence but stifles its economic and political modernization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The high pressure also stifles the sea breeze that can bring cooler ocean air onto land.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
And earlier this year, a jury found that Live Nation was an illegal monopoly, following years of criticism that the company stifles competition and overcharges fans, but analysts say a breakup is unlikely.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Today, Zabtia said, it is no longer censorship that stifles filmmaking in Libya, but an array of other challenges compounded by a lack of public support.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
The mousy-haired girl clamps her hand over her mouth and stifles a sob.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
Mater Dei’s run game was shut down, gaining less than 100 yards, and it looked like the Monarchs would be stifled for the entire four quarters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
“My Neighbor Totoro” is a gateway into a pastoral ideal that still exists in living memory, reviving parts of our imagination that maturity has stifled into dormancy.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
She pushed Joint into corners, held off several break points, and stifled a match point in the tiebreak before taking it for herself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
While households’ debt-service burden has increased since pandemic lockdowns stifled spending, it remains lighter than at any point before the pandemic dating back to the 1980s.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Until a football boy stifled a groan, the silence was utter.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
A good car balance should put Verstappen in a good place for a race that will be dominated by tyre degradation in the stifling heat, whether the threatened rain holds off or not.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Those hardships are visible after sunset, when electricity fails, disappearing entire neighborhoods into stifling darkness.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Maybe that can feel stifling for some viewers.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
That’s creating a bottleneck at some firms, stifling not just promotions but preventing younger ambitious partners from getting bigger cases and juicier work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
The reek of them hung stifling in the still air.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
