stifle
stif·le/ˈstaɪf(ə)l/verb, noun
stifle is spelled S-T-I-F-L-E, 2 syllables: stif·le. The wrong spelling people search most is stiffle: about 130 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 11 of all searches for the word. Stifle is a verb meaning “To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) to die by preventing breathing; to…”.
How many letters and syllables are in stifle?
| Letters | 6: S-T-I-F-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: stif·le |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,918th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, stiffle, about 130 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell stifle?
Stifle is spelled S-T-I-F-L-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 11 of the searches for stifle in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is stifle?
Stifle appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th 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 stifle?
- UK /ˈstaɪfl̩/
- US /ˈstaɪf(ə)l/
Stifle has 2 syllables, split stif·le in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-stifle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with stifle?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as stifle (/aɪfl/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: itself.
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 stifle
- stifles present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- stifling participle, present
- stifled participle, past
- stifil
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stifle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) to die by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate.
- 2
To cause (someone) difficulty in breathing, or a choking or gagging feeling.
The heat was stifling the children.
- 3
To prevent (a breath, cough, or cry, or the voice, etc.) from being released from the throat.
- 4
To make (something) unable to be heard by blocking it with some medium.
- 5
To keep in, hold back, or repress (something).
The army stifled the rebellion.
- 6
To prevent (something) from being revealed; to conceal, to hide, to suppress.
- 7
To treat (a silkworm cocoon) with steam as part of the process of silk production.
- 8
To die of suffocation.
Two firemen tragically stifled in yesterday’s fire when trying to rescue an old lady from her bedroom.
- 9
To cause (a dog, horse, or other four-legged mammal) to dislocate or sprain its stifle joint.
noun
- 1
The joint between the femur and tibia in the hind leg of various four-legged mammals, especially horses, corresponding to the knee in humans.
- 2
A bone disease of this region.
- 3
rareAn act or state of being stifled.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stifle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | étouffer , réprimer , suffoquer , grasset |
| German | erdrücken, ersticken , unterdrücken |
| Portuguese | sufocar , reprimir , curvejão, jarrete |
| Spanish | sofocar , reprimir, afogar, suprimir , asfixiarse , babilla |
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 stifle come from?
The verb is derived from Late Middle English stuflen (“to have difficulty breathing due to heat, stifle; to suffocate by drowning, drown”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain. Also found in Middle English forstyflyd (“stifled, choked”, past participle). Perhaps derived from Middle English stuffen (“to kill by suffocation; to stifle from heat; to extinguish, suppress (body heat, breath, humour, etc.); to deprive a plant of the conditions necessary for growth, choke”) + -len (frequentative suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).