suffuse

[suh-fyooz]

verb (used with object)

suffused, suffusing 

1. to overspread with or as with a liquid, color, etc.

   Synonyms: flood, bathe, diffuse, pervade, cover

suffuse

/ səˈfjuːʒən, səˈfjuːz /

verb

1. (tr; usually passive) to spread or flood through or over (something)

   the evening sky was suffused with red

Other Word Forms

• suffusive adjective
• suffusion noun
• suffusedly adverb
• unsuffused adjective
• unsuffusive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of suffuse¹

First recorded in 1580–90, suffuse is from the Latin word suffūsus (past participle of suffundere ). See suf-, fuse ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of suffuse¹

C16: from Latin suffūsus overspread with, from suffundere, from _sub- + fundere to pour

Example Sentences

As you chew, the cardamom bits send out little bolts of flavor, suffusing the cake with a lovely scent of spice.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Consider all that has happened in the past six months to erase the bearish sentiment that suffused our spring survey—and Wall Street.

Read more on Barron's

Ghastly homages to white supremacy, often suffused with the anti-democratic demands of Christian nationalism, have been on the treacherous rise for a decade.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It’s suffused with love and a desire to finally understand.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Far from L.A.’s suburban sprawl, a Salton Sea butcher is haunted by the disappearance of girls in a novel suffused in Latina and Indigenous cultures.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bathe 
• permeate 
• saturate 
• steep 
• tinge