suffer
Americanverb (used without object)
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to undergo or feel pain or distress.
The patient is still suffering.
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to sustain injury, disadvantage, or loss.
One's health suffers from overwork. The business suffers from lack of capital.
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to undergo a penalty, as of death.
The traitor was made to suffer on the gallows.
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to endure pain, disability, death, etc., patiently or willingly.
verb (used with object)
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to undergo, be subjected to, or endure (pain, distress, injury, loss, or anything unpleasant).
to suffer the pangs of conscience.
- Synonyms:
- sustain
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to undergo or experience (any action, process, or condition).
to suffer change.
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to tolerate or allow.
I do not suffer fools gladly.
verb
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to undergo or be subjected to (pain, punishment, etc)
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(tr) to undergo or experience (anything)
to suffer a change of management
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(intr) to be set at a disadvantage
this author suffers in translation
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to be prepared to endure (pain, death, etc)
he suffers for the cause of freedom
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archaic (tr) to permit (someone to do something)
suffer the little children to come unto me
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to be ill with, esp recurrently
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to be given to
he suffers from a tendency to exaggerate
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Usage
It is better to avoid using the words suffer and sufferer in relation to chronic illness or disability. They may be considered demeaning and disempowering. Suitable alternative are have , experience , be diagnosed with
Other Word Forms
- nonsufferable adjective
- nonsufferableness noun
- nonsufferably adverb
- outsuffer verb (used with object)
- presuffer verb
- sufferable adjective
- sufferableness noun
- sufferably adverb
- sufferer noun
- unsufferable adjective
- unsufferableness noun
- unsufferably adverb
Etymology
Origin of suffer
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English suff(e)ren, from Latin sufferre, from suf- suf- ( def. ) + ferre “to bring, carry”; compare Old French sofrir, from Vulgar Latin sufferīre (unrecorded); bear 1 ( def. ), -phore ( def. )
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.
Professor Dame Carol Black said children had "suffered" from years of under-investment in treatment services, with the current government now having to "turn around the tanker" and rebuild the sector.
From BBC
District Judge Royce C. Lamberth in Washington, D.C., said Revolution Wind was likely to suffer “irreparable harm” if the project was stalled indefinitely.
From Barron's
Joseph McKenna, defending, told the court in mitigation that the defendant was suffering from anxiety and depression, having experienced "difficult circumstances" as a Kurd in Turkey.
From BBC
The Uruguay international suffered an injury in Spurs' Premier League defeat at Bournemouth last week and requires hamstring surgery.
From BBC
Madrid suffered a spate of injuries which Alonso said was partly the reason for his team's change of approach, and it reduced his options.
From Barron's
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.
