stifling
adjective
[ ˈstʌɪf(ə)lɪŋ ]
• (of heat, air, or a room) very hot and causing difficulties in breathing; suffocating.
• "stifling heat"
• making one feel constrained or oppressed.
• "the stifling formality of her family life"
stifle
verb
• make (someone) unable to breathe properly; suffocate.
• "those in the streets were stifled by the fumes"
Similar:
suffocate,
choke,
asphyxiate,
smother,
very hot,
sweltering,
airless,
suffocating,
oppressive,
humid,
close,
muggy,
sticky,
soupy,
claggy,
boiling,
• restrain (a reaction) or stop oneself acting on (an emotion).
• "she stifled a giggle"
Similar:
suppress,
smother,
restrain,
keep back,
hold back,
hold in,
fight back,
choke back,
gulp back,
withhold,
check,
keep in check,
swallow,
muffle,
quench,
curb,
silence,
contain,
bottle up,
bite one's lip,
cork up,
Opposite:
let out,
Origin:
late Middle English: perhaps from a frequentative of Old French estouffer ‘smother, stifle’.
