# suffer

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈsʌfə/ · frequency rank #3,338

## Definitions
1. To undergo hardship.
2. To feel pain.
3. To become worse.
4. To endure, undergo.
5. To allow.

## Etymology
From Middle English suffren, from Anglo-Norman suffrir, from Latin sufferre (“to offer, hold up, bear, suffer”), from sub- (“up, under”) + ferō (“I carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”). Displaced native Old English þrōwian.

## Easily confused with
- **super** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-super)
- **summer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-summer)
- **supper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-supper)
- **sulfur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-sulfur)
- **surfer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-surfer)
- **Sumner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-sumner)
- **Sutter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-sutter)
- **suffix** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-suffix)
- **Sumter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-sumter)
- **suffered** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-suffered)
- **sufferer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suffer-vs-sufferer)
- **sucker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sucker-vs-suffer)
- **stuffed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stuffed-vs-suffer)
- **staffer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staffer-vs-suffer)
- **stiffer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stiffer-vs-suffer)
- **Shaffer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaffer-vs-suffer)
- **sniffer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sniffer-vs-suffer)

## Common misspellings (7)
`sfufer`, `ssuffer`, `sufefr`, `sufer`, `sufferr`, `suffre`, `usffer`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/suffer