sofocar
Spanish, verb/sofoˈkaɾ/
sofocar is spelled S-O-F-O-C-A-R (7 letters) and appears 1.5 times per million words in written Spanish, the 27,508th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Sofocar is a Spanish verb meaning “to suffocate, to stifle, to smother” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Imposibilitar la respiración, producir ahogo”.
What does sofocar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to suffocate, to stifle, to smother
- 2
to quell, to suppress, to put down, to crush, to quash, to squelch
Intentábamos sofocar la rebelión antes de que empezara.
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Imposibilitar la respiración, producir ahogo. 2. Acabar con un peligro: extinguir un incendio, dominar una rebelión o reprimir una pasión violenta. 3. Asediar figuradamente a alguien, acosándole con contínuas demandas. 4. Causar sofoco, vergüenza a alguien.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of sofocar
- sofoco first-person present singular
- sofoqué first-person preterite singular
- sofocado participle past
- c-qu alternation
- sofocando gerund
- sofocada feminine participle past
- sofocados masculine participle past
- sofocadas feminine participle past
- sofocas indicative informal present
- sofocás indicative informal present
- sofoca indicative present singular
- sofocamos first-person indicative plural
- sofocáis indicative plural present
- sofocan indicative plural present
- sofocaba first-person imperfect indicative
- sofocabas imperfect indicative second-person
- sofocábamos first-person imperfect indicative
- sofocabais imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce sofocar?
- /sofoˈkaɾ/
- [so.foˈkaɾ]
- [sofoˈkaɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to sofocar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is sofocar in Spanish?
sofocar appears 1.5 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).