ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsSstifle
ISEE/SSATmedium
stifle
Meaning: to suppress or hold back a feeling, sound, or action
stifle in a sentence
How stifle is used in real sentences:
She had to stifle a laugh during the solemn ceremony.
New regulations threatened to stifle small businesses just as they were beginning to recover from the slow economy.
“At the same time, the council tried to stifle rumors that might send towns into panic.”
— from the passage The Queen's Paper Roads
Synonyms for stifle
Other words for stifle — suppress, smother and muffle — carry the same meaning.
- suppress
- smother
- muffle
Antonyms of stifle
Words that mean the opposite of stifle:
- encourage
- release
- unleash
Where it comes from
From Old French estouffer 'to smother, choke'
Memory hook
STIFLE sounds like 'STIFF-le' — going stiff because you can't let it out.