Synonyms

stifled

American

[stahy-fuhld] / ˈstaɪ fəld /

adjective

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.
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.
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

the simple past tense and past participle of stifle.

Other Word Forms

unstifled adjective

Etymology

Origin of stifled

stifle ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ²

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.

But that hasn’t stifled the scary talk about how dangerous they are.

From The Wall Street Journal

Orion barked as if in agreement, and as excited as they were, Danny and Glory both stifled deep yawns.

From Literature

She feels stifled when she can’t be trusted to do things on her own.

From Los Angeles Times

Bitcoin’s recovery run has been stifled somewhat at the start of the week by a bounce in gold that has taken the precious metal back over $5,000 an ounce.

From MarketWatch

New England's second-year quarterback Drake Maye narrowly missed out on this season's Most Valuable Player award but was stifled by the Seahawks, who claimed six sacks, forced three turnovers and scored a defensive touchdown.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023