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PlainSpell

smother

smoth·er/ˈsməðər/verb, noun

smother is spelled S-M-O-T-H-E-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables (smoth·er). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, smother means “To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in smother?

Letters7: S-M-O-T-H-E-R
Syllables2: smoth·er
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 34,912th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is smother?

Smother appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce smother?

  • US /ˈsməðər/
  • US /ˈsmʌðɚ/
  • UK /ˈsmʌðə/

Smother has 2 syllables, split smoth·er in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-smother.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with smother?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as smother (/əðəɹ/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: thermos.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of smother

  • smothers present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • smothering participle, present
  • smothered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does smother mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone.

    He smothered her by pressing his hand over her mouth.

  2. 2

    To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air.

    to smother a fire with ashes

  3. 3

    To reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguish

    The committee's report was smothered.

  4. 4

    To cook in a close dish.

    beefsteak smothered with onions

  5. 5

    To daub or smear.

  6. 6

    To be suffocated.

    She is smothered by the rope.

  7. 7

    To breathe with great difficulty by reason of smoke, dust, close covering or wrapping, or the like.

  8. 8

    to burn very slowly for want of air; smolder.

noun

  1. 1

    Smoldering; slow combustion.

  2. 2

    Cookware used in such cooking.

  3. 3

    datedThe state of being stifled; suppression.

  4. 4

    datedStifling smoke; thick dust.

  5. 5

    The act of smothering a kick (see verb section).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Smother in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchétouffer (to suffocate), cuire à l’étouffée (to cook in a close dish), suffoquer (to breathe with great difficulty)
Germanersticken (to suffocate), schmoren (to cook in a close dish), dämpfen, unterdrücken (to reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity), abdecken (to daub or smear), Schwelen (slow combustion)
Portuguesesufocar, asfixiar (to suffocate), apagar (to extinguish or deaden)
Spanishsofocar, asfixiar, ahogar, agobiar (to suffocate), apagar (to extinguish or deaden)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does smother come from?

From Middle English smothren, smortheren, alteration (due to smother, smorther (“a suffocating vapour, dense smoke”, noun)) of Middle English smoren (“to smother”), from Old English smorian (“to smother, suffocate, choke”), from Proto-West Germanic *smorōn, from Proto-Germanic *smurōną (“to suffocate, strangle”), probably related to *smallijan (“to burn”) or Old English smoca (“smoke”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after smother