stifle
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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stifles,
present (3rd person singular)
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stifled,
past participle, past
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stifling
present participle
verb (used without object)
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stifles,
present (3rd person singular)
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stifled,
past participle, past
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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
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to feel or cause to feel discomfort and difficulty in breathing
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to prevent or be prevented from breathing so as to cause death
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(tr) to crush or stamp out
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stiflesimple
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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
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have been stiflingperfect progressive
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has been stiflingperfect progressive
Past
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stifledsimple
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had stifledperfect
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was stiflingprogressive
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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:
It was when Sanders waved his hand to stifle the reaction to Stevens’ name that I knew where I was—or rather, when.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
"Denying American startups access to models available abroad would stifle competition, entrench incumbents, and function as a tax on intelligence," the letter from the Little Tech Association said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
“New rules are needed for this new tech frontier—not to stifle innovation, but to make sure our innovations do not outpace our protections,” Texas Republican Rep. Nathaniel Moran wrote on social media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Sacks has warned on many occasions, according to Curi, against “regulatory capture” that would stifle competition and benefit the biggest labs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
While I thought this was pretty impressive, my friends, some of whom had traveled Europe in a sideshow with Miss Peregrine, could hardly stifle their yawns.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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
It is banned in thoroughbred racing and competitors in other disciplines are divided, with some saying it creates unrealistic expectations and stifles advances in breeding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 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
Gardner turns around to request that Gosling’s character move to another seat off-camera — but before she makes that demand, she stifles a chuckle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
One of the Burgess sisters stifles a giggle.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Ron spasms under his desk, stifled by the small space; a colleague dries a co-worker’s hair with a piece of paper after blowing bubbles in it; Ron does the loudest meal prep you’ll ever hear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
It is the inverse of China’s “Great Firewall,” a sprawling regulatory and technological system that has stifled foreign competition and restricted the Chinese public’s access to information for more than two decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 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
The third-smallest nation in World Cup history stifled Spain through their 4-5-1 defensive shape.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Having stifled my sobs, wiped my eyes, and muttered something about not being very well that morning, I resumed my task, and succeeded in completing it.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
It’s not to add Connor Storrie and Inde Navarrette to that stifling shortlist — it’s how much more talent there is waiting for a shot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
It said this has occurred during shifts where staff have queued for hours outside hospitals to hand over patients in stifling temperatures.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Sleeping out in the stifling summer heat leaves her exhausted, but what distresses her more is not knowing when or how this situation will end.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
The author also draws on realizations from his own life, such as the time he found himself perversely stifling another man’s generous impulse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
I shifted to my side to get back to sleep, and immediately he grew quieter, stifling his sniffles.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
