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definitions

suffer

[suhf-er]
See more synonyms for suffer on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object)
  1. to undergo or feel pain or distress: The patient is still suffering.
  2. to sustain injury, disadvantage, or loss: One's health suffers from overwork. The business suffers from lack of capital.
  3. to undergo a penalty, as of death: The traitor was made to suffer on the gallows.
  4. to endure pain, disability, death, etc., patiently or willingly.
verb (used with object)
  1. to undergo, be subjected to, or endure (pain, distress, injury, loss, or anything unpleasant): to suffer the pangs of conscience.
  2. to undergo or experience (any action, process, or condition): to suffer change.
  3. to tolerate or allow: I do not suffer fools gladly.

Origin of suffer

1200–50; Middle English suff(e)ren < Latin sufferre, equivalent to suf- suf- + ferre to bear1; compare Old French sofrir < Vulgar Latin *sufferīre
Related formssuf·fer·a·ble, adjectivesuf·fer·a·ble·ness, nounsuf·fer·a·bly, adverbsuf·fer·er, nounnon·suf·fer·a·ble, adjectivenon·suf·fer·a·ble·ness, nounnon·suf·fer·a·bly, adverbout·suf·fer, verb (used with object)pre·suf·fer, verbun·suf·fer·a·ble, adjectiveun·suf·fer·a·ble·ness, nounun·suf·fer·a·bly, adverb

Synonyms for suffer

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
5. sustain. 7. stomach, stand, abide.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for suffered

get, experience, hurt, endure, undergo, deteriorate, receive, support, feel, see, accept, sustain, take, have, bleed, encounter, know, brave, pain, droop

Examples from the Web for suffered

Contemporary Examples of suffered

Historical Examples of suffered

  • He had suffered himself to regain something of his old cheerfulness of manner.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • I have suffered much since your brother carried me to Birmingham.

  • I was very much exhausted, and suffered greatly from hunger.

    Biography of a Slave

    Charles Thompson

  • She had suffered so much, so poignantly, that at last her emotions had grown sluggish.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

  • For that very reason, she suffered much from a conscience newly clamorous.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

British Dictionary definitions for suffered

suffer

verb
  1. to undergo or be subjected to (pain, punishment, etc)
  2. (tr) to undergo or experience (anything)to suffer a change of management
  3. (intr) to be set at a disadvantagethis author suffers in translation
  4. to be prepared to endure (pain, death, etc)he suffers for the cause of freedom
  5. (tr) archaic to permit (someone to do something)suffer the little children to come unto me
  6. suffer from
    1. to be ill with, esp recurrently
    2. to be given tohe suffers from a tendency to exaggerate
Derived Formssufferer, noun

Word Origin for suffer

C13: from Old French soffrir, from Latin sufferre, from sub- + ferre to bear

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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for suffered

suffer

v.

early 13c., "to be made to undergo, endure" (pain, death, punishment, judgment, grief), from Anglo-French suffrir, Old French sufrir, from Vulgar Latin *sufferire, variant of Latin sufferre "to bear, undergo, endure, carry or put under," from sub "up, under" (see sub-) + ferre "to carry" (see infer).

Replaced Old English þolian, þrowian. Meaning "to meekly submit to hardship" is from late 13c. That of "to undergo" (distress, suffering, etc.) is mid-14c. Meaning "to tolerate, allow" something to occur or continue is recorded from mid-13c. Related: Suffered; suffering.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with suffered

suffer

see not suffer fools gladly.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.