smother
Americanverb (used with object)
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smothers,
present (3rd person singular)
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smothered,
past participle, past
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smothering
present participle
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to stifle or suffocate, as by smoke or other means of preventing free breathing.
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to extinguish or deaden (fire, coals, etc.) by covering so as to exclude air.
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to cover closely or thickly; envelop.
to smother a steak with mushrooms.
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to suppress or repress.
to smother feelings.
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Cooking. to steam (food) slowly in a heavy, tightly closed vessel with a minimum of liquid.
smothered chicken and onions.
verb (used without object)
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smothers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
smothered,
past participle, past
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smothering
present participle
-
to become stifled or suffocated; be prevented from breathing.
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to be stifled; be suppressed or concealed.
noun
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dense, stifling smoke.
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a smoking or smoldering state, as of burning matter.
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dust, fog, spray, etc., in a dense or enveloping cloud.
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an overspreading profusion of anything.
a smother of papers.
verb
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to suffocate or stifle by cutting off or being cut off from the air
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(tr) to surround (with) or envelop (in)
he smothered her with love
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(tr) to extinguish (a fire) by covering so as to cut it off from the air
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to be or cause to be suppressed or stifled
smother a giggle
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(tr) to cook or serve (food) thickly covered with sauce, etc
noun
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anything, such as a cloud of smoke, that stifles
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a profusion or turmoil
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archaic a state of smouldering or a smouldering fire
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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half-smotheredadjective
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smotherableadjective
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smotheryadjective
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unsmotherableadjective
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unsmotheredadjective
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unsmotheringadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smothersimple
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smotherssimple
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have smotheredperfect
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has smotheredperfect
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am smotheringprogressive
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are smotheringprogressive
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is smotheringprogressive
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have been smotheringperfect progressive
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has been smotheringperfect progressive
Past
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smotheredsimple
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had smotheredperfect
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was smotheringprogressive
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were smotheringprogressive
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had been smotheringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of smother
1125–75; (noun) Middle English smorther dense smoke; akin to Old English smorian to suffocate; (v.) Middle English smo ( r ) theren, derivative of the noun
Explanation
To smother is to overwhelm or suffocate. If you've ever had a boyfriend or girlfriend who calls you twenty five times an hour to check up on you, then you know what it means to be smothered by someone. The word smother literally means to deprive of oxygen, so it can be used to refer to someone who gets suffocated by a pillow. In everyday conversation, the word is often used to refer to the act of making someone feel like they’re being deprived of oxygen or personal space. If you have a mother who likes to smother you by asking where you're going every time you see her, then it's likely you’re already dreaming of moving out!
Vocabulary lists containing smother
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 7
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 16–19
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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:
Grant used the destruction of railroads and logistical networks, and superior manpower, to smother the Confederacy during his 1864 Wilderness Campaign.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
The advice is to smother your child with at least SPF 30 and four stars, about 30 minutes before you go outside.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Thick layers of dust smother giant grinding and pressing machines, while only a tiny crew of workers transfer the last batch made three weeks ago off snaking assembly lines and into trucks.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
Rising land prices smother our ability to move, suppress fertility rates, stifle innovation, and hoover up resources that might be deployed elsewhere.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2025
Ma heard us trying to smother our laughs down and stared ’cross the road.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
But as much as she smothers her desires, others can sense them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
L.A.’s heat-seeking “Showtime” franchise is obsessed over more than any other, in good times and especially troubled ones, to the point where it smothers other NBA coverage and drives many fans nuts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2025
Mr. Prigozhin frequently belittled General Gerasimov in his Telegram audio messages, implying that he was an office-bound official of the kind that smothers regular soldiers with bureaucracy.
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
Also if a skater — not the goaltender — smothers the puck in the goal crease.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2022
“The weight of it is enormous, Jule. It smothers me. You’re pushing me to be something to you, and I don’t want to be it.”
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
Workers sweated in choking heat and pupils stayed home on Tuesday as an early-summer heatwave smothered much of Europe, sparking health warnings.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
He has added gold trim to the crown molding, smothered the walls with gold-framed artworks and gold-painted embellishments, placed inch-thick gold coasters on the desk, and lined up gold urns on the mantel.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Of course, the barbershop, where ball talk is real talk, and where the expectations around the Dodgers upcoming quest for a three-peat recently smothered me like a hot towel to the head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2026
An assertion is not worth making unless it is smothered in phrases like “it is worth noting,” “importantly,” or “generally speaking.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
Fadi stared down at the two plump dumplings smothered in a meat sauce, and his hunger vanished.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
Ms. Cline inhabits his thoughts in close third-person and though she writes in the past tense, her narration evokes an intimate, sometimes smothering feeling of presentness—of being confined within David’s immediate consciousness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Some species may have acted as fire ladders, helping flames move through the landscape while also crowding out and smothering other vegetation.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
Rodri, Spain’s captain and the anchor of the team’s smothering defense during its unbeaten World Cup run, won the Golden Ball award as the outstanding player of the tournament.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
A massive front of hot air from North Africa was smothering western Europe, Sebastien Leas, a forecaster at France's weather service Meteo-France, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
He walked to Collins, twisting his face away from the heat of the fire and smothering smoke.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
