Synonyms for suffocate
Synonyms by meaning
Verb
1. Choke — to suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body
choke, strangle, gag, asphyxiate, throttle, suppress, repress, burke slang UK AU NZ
2. To make weary with contact — to die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body
Definitions
- v. 1
To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
Open the hatch, he is suffocating in the airlock!
- v. 2
To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.
He suffocated his wife by holding a pillow over her head.
Related words
- Word family
- suffocation suffocative
Forms
- Past participle
- suffocated
e.g. suffocated → choked, strangled, gagged, asphyxiated…
Example sentences
- choke Many old people choke to death while eating mochi.
- strangle Tom couldn't quite bring himself to strangle Mary.
- asphyxiate Hey! It's stuffy in here. Get me out before I asphyxiate.
- stifle Sami stuffed a bag inside Layla's mouth to stifle her.
- smother My sister likes to smother her toasts in butter.
- kill He tried to kill himself because he lost her love.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| suffocate | rising | |
| choke | rising | |
| strangle | rising | |
| asphyxiate | rising | |
| stifle | rising | |
| smother | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- gag1
- 4 letters
- kill1
- 5 letters
- burke1, choke1, drown1
- 6 letters
- stifle2, quench1
- 7 letters
- smother2, repress2
- 8 letters
- suppress2, throttle2, strangle2
- 10 letters
- asphyxiate4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (stifle2 = 2 syllables).