Something stifling makes you feel suffocated. If your mother insists on accompanying you on your first date, that will probably feel stifling.
Stifle comes from the Middle English word stuffle, which means to kill by cutting off air. If a dictator's stifling of popular protests, is the action he takes to prevent them from happening. A really hot movie theater is stifling, as is an environment where you never get any space to yourself. Either way, if something is stifling, it's preventing something else from living freely and fully.
1 |
adj |
characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
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2 |
n |
forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority
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