Added 9 October 2026
suffocate
/ˈsʌfəkeɪt/ verb
In Latin: suffōcor First recorded: 1420 Wiktionary
verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about suffocate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing.
Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow
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Impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of.
The foul air was slowly suffocating the children
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Become stultified, suppressed, or stifled.
He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)