suffocate

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing
  2. verb impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
  3. verb become stultified, suppressed, or stifled

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in the 1420s, 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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

smother, asphyxiate

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