stifled

[stahy-fuhld]

adjective

1. quelled, crushed, or ended by force.

   The activist has been in and out of detention as she continues to call attention to her country's stifled uprising.

2. suppressed, repressed, or inhibited.

   My foot slipped, and with a stifled shriek I found myself grasping desperately for a handhold.

   One version of me grew up as expected, appearing as a confident adult to the outside world; the other remained a stifled, insecure child.

3. deprived of air or of the ability to breathe.

   The light is mixed with the dust floating in the stifled hut, where the air inside never moves.

   When I see that picture of the stifled refugees hidden in the van, I don’t understand the heartlessness that permits such a thing.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of stifle.

Other Word Forms

• unstifled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stifled¹

stifle ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ²

Example Sentences

But they don’t explore the forces across the political spectrum that have stifled any meaningful reforms, particularly to SNAP, the federal food-stamp program.

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However, poor governance has stifled development in Cameroon, which ranked 140 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Read more on Barron's

Sally Lambah, head of student support and wellbeing at Wrexham University, argues that social development skills of recent university cohorts were "stifled because they had to stay at home".

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The lawsuit said the firm's practices had stifled competitors, and led to higher ticket prices and worse service for customers.

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England stifled Serbia and the hosts failed to get any of their three shots on target, leaving Pickford without a save to make.

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Related Words

• delicate 
• dim 
• distant 
• dull 
• far-off 
• gentle 
• hazy 
• inaudible 
• mild 
• muffled www.thesaurus.com
• muted 
• remote 
• slight 
• soft 
• soothing 
• vague 
• weak