1
as in strangled
to be or cause to be killed by lack of breathable air
unfortunately, the robbers were stifled when they got trapped in the airless bank vault
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in swallowed
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
stifled a yawn
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in muffled
to deaden the sound of
he stifled a cough with his hand
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as in suppressed
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Recent Examples of stifled
Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Woods Richardson, who allowed just two hits, outdueled Yankees starter Carlos Rodón, who completely stifled the Twins (66-84) the last time the two teams played.
—Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 16 Sep. 2025
Waves of trilobite extinctions swept the oceans, and an ancient planet better known for its explosion of life now saw the ambition of this frenzied new animal world periodically stifled under a high-CO2 hothouse.
—Peter Brannen, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
Vrabel, as previously mentioned, has stifled Tagovailoa in the past.
—Miami Herald, 13 Sep. 2025
Instead, those ambitions have been stifled—partly because the university is a fussy place and partly because Harold is just too weird to fit in.
—Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2025
Flowers also discussed Caribbean perspectives, noting how creativity was often stifled in favor of conformity.
—Larry Stansbury, Essence, 12 Sep. 2025
Then Denver figured out Tennessee had no other ground-game threats and little offensive ingenuity, and stifled him in the second half.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 12 Sep. 2025
Detroit was stifled all night by the new look Packers defense with Micah Parsons in the fold, unable to generate the big plays that were a staple of the Detroit offense in past years when former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was calling the plays.
—Reice Shipley, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
The equity-grading scandal underscores a destructive phenomenon, which since the 1960s has increasingly stifled America’s can-do spirit with countless rules and regulations.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Woods Richardson, who allowed just two hits, outdueled Yankees starter Carlos Rodón, who completely stifled the Twins (66-84) the last time the two teams played.
—Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 16 Sep. 2025
Waves of trilobite extinctions swept the oceans, and an ancient planet better known for its explosion of life now saw the ambition of this frenzied new animal world periodically stifled under a high-CO2 hothouse.
—Peter Brannen, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
Vrabel, as previously mentioned, has stifled Tagovailoa in the past.
—Miami Herald, 13 Sep. 2025
Instead, those ambitions have been stifled—partly because the university is a fussy place and partly because Harold is just too weird to fit in.
—Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2025
Flowers also discussed Caribbean perspectives, noting how creativity was often stifled in favor of conformity.
—Larry Stansbury, Essence, 12 Sep. 2025
Then Denver figured out Tennessee had no other ground-game threats and little offensive ingenuity, and stifled him in the second half.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 12 Sep. 2025
Detroit was stifled all night by the new look Packers defense with Micah Parsons in the fold, unable to generate the big plays that were a staple of the Detroit offense in past years when former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was calling the plays.
—Reice Shipley, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stifled
Verb
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Every February and September, when the event takes place, critics and showgoers bemoan that the entire affair is strangled by commercialism and limping toward irrelevance.—
Ana Karina Zatarain,
New Yorker,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Miner was tied up, beaten, strangled and stabbed.—
Tony Saavedra,
Oc Register,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 141 drones into the country, of which 132 were downed or suppressed.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
22 Sep. 2025
-
The upconversion process also suppressed noise, which made the setup effective even under very dim light.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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That should tug on our hearts since Willa’s worth caring for, but the emotional heft between dad and daughter gets muffled since there’s just not enough oxygen given to those scenes.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Robbie hoped their full mouths muffled the sound.—
Rachel McRady,
PEOPLE,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Comedian Alex Edelman plays Adam, a repressed father of four.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Only in this case, the repressed figure at the movie’s center also happens to be the president of Italy.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The same jury did, however, convict Chambers of battery and false imprisonment for other prior altercations in which prosecutors said Chambers pushed, grabbed and choked Dadkhah.—
City News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Sep. 2025
-
The air around the mop sink was choked by 20 flies.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Getting swallowed by a tech giant expecting hockey-stick growth has proved untenable.—
Stefan Fatsis,
The Atlantic,
13 Sep. 2025
-
In a sight that became more-than-familiar to Boise State fans, Jeanty seemed to be swallowed in the scrum at the line of scrimmage, before bursting out of the side and powering himself into the endzone.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In the public square, opposing views aren't debated—they're flagged or muted.—
Curt Steinhorst,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
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The male nurse muted the sound.—
Laura Vazquez,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Moyes’s game plan required the forward to hold the ball up, but he was smothered so effectively by Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk from the start.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
21 Sep. 2025
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Crispy wings smothered in Mike’s Hot Honey.—
Endia Fontanez,
AZCentral.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stifled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stifled. Accessed 23 Sep. 2025.
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