What does "suffocate" mean?
To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
Suffocate
/ˈsʌfəkeɪt/ adj, verb
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
- Grammar: suffocate is listed as adj, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: smother, asphyxiate, choke, stifle.
- Useful contrasts: respiring, breathe, breathes.
- Usage evidence: I thought I was going to suffocate on the crowded train.
How to use "suffocate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "suffocate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "suffocate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "suffocate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "suffocate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "suffocate" is acting as adj, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "smother" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "suffocate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body. ergative
"Open the hatch, he is suffocating in the airlock!"
- 2 struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake wordnet
- 3 To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body. ergative
"He suffocated his wife by holding a pillow over her head."
- 4 feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air wordnet
- 5 To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation. ergative, figuratively
"I'm suffocating under this huge workload."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen wordnet
- 7 To destroy; to extinguish. transitive
"to suffocate fire"
- 8 suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of wordnet
- 9 become stultified, suppressed, or stifled wordnet
- 10 impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of wordnet
- 11 deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Suffocated, choked. obsolete
- 2 Smothered, overwhelmed. obsolete
"This chaos, when degree is suffocate, follows the choking"
Example
"I thought I was going to suffocate on the crowded train."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "suffocate"?
Common synonyms include: smother, asphyxiate, choke, stifle, asphyxiate, asphyxiated.
How do you use "suffocate" in a sentence?
I thought I was going to suffocate on the crowded train.
How do you pronounce "suffocate"?
Pronounced /ˈsʌfəkeɪt/.
Etymology
The adjective is first attested in the 1420's, the verb in 1526; from Middle English suffocat(e) (“deprived of air, suffocated”), borrowed from Latin suffōcātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin suffōcō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from sub- (“under, up to”) + fōx (“throat”, oblique stem in fōc-). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.