suffuse

[ suh-fyooz ]

verb (used with object)

, suf·fused, suf·fus·ing.

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

Derived Forms

• sufˈfusive, adjective
• suffusion, noun

Other Words From

• suf·fused·ly [s, uh, -, fyoozd, -lee, -, fyoo, -zid-], adverb
• suf·fu·sion [s, uh, -, fyoo, -zh, uh, n], noun
• suf·fu·sive [s, uh, -, fyoo, -siv], adjective
• unsuf·fused adjective
• unsuf·fusive 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

A tragic dimension is suffused all through “Etta and Ella” — of loss of status, of bearings, of sanity.

From Washington Post

A mathematically precise definition of consciousness could mean that the cosmos is suffused with subjective experience.

From Nautilus

Bodies, suffused as they are with anitya, come and go, whereas genes go on and on, catapulted into the future either as offspring or in the bodies of other relatives.

From Nautilus

While Venus is similar to Earth in size, mass, and rocky composition, its surface temperatures reach 900 °F, and its atmosphere is suffused with thick clouds of sulfuric acid billions of times more acidic than any environment on Earth.

From MIT Technology Review

At the Beijing Zoo, the team presented six captive giant pandas with piles of hay suffused with the chemicals, or with other substances.

From Science News

The knowledge and performance of evil should suffuse one's daily life.

From Project Gutenberg

The blushes of an instinctive sensibility suffuse their countenances, and petitions for assistance falter on their tongues.

From Project Gutenberg

He saw her eyes suffuse, and a faint color glow in her cheek.

From Project Gutenberg

The next minute Gedge was looking in wonder at the peculiar rosy glow which suddenly began to suffuse the great mountain.

From Project Gutenberg

At the recital of a noble action or a beautiful thought, they would suffuse with tears, and his mouth trembled.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bathe
• permeate
• saturate
• steep
• tinge