suffocate
verb
Simple meaning
To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhfuhkaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsʌfəkeɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
ergative
To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
ergative
To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.
ergative
Deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing
ergativefiguratively
To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.
transitive
To destroy; to extinguish.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (ergative) To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
Used this way, suffocate is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use suffocate
- “The child suffocated under the pillow.”verb
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “suffocate” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.