51Թ

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View synonyms for

suffer

[ suhf-er ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to undergo or feel pain or distress:

    The patient is still suffering.

  2. to sustain injury, disadvantage, or loss:

    One's health suffers from overwork. The business suffers from lack of capital.

  3. to undergo a penalty, as of death:

    The traitor was made to suffer on the gallows.

  4. to endure pain, disability, death, etc., patiently or willingly.


verb (used with object)

  1. to undergo, be subjected to, or endure (pain, distress, injury, loss, or anything unpleasant):

    to suffer the pangs of conscience.

    Synonyms:

  2. to undergo or experience (any action, process, or condition):

    to suffer change.

  3. to tolerate or allow:

    I do not suffer fools gladly.

    Synonyms: , ,

suffer

/ ˈʌə /

verb

  1. to undergo or be subjected to (pain, punishment, etc)
  2. tr to undergo or experience (anything)

    to suffer a change of management

  3. intr to be set at a disadvantage

    this author suffers in translation

  4. to be prepared to endure (pain, death, etc)

    he suffers for the cause of freedom

  5. archaic.
    tr to permit (someone to do something)

    suffer the little children to come unto me

  6. suffer from
    1. to be ill with, esp recurrently
    2. to be given to

      he suffers from a tendency to exaggerate

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Usage

It is better to avoid using the words suffer and sufferer in relation to chronic illness or disability. They may be considered demeaning and disempowering. Suitable alternative are have , experience , be diagnosed with
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Derived Forms

  • ˈܴڴڱ, noun
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • ܴf·· adjective
  • ܴf···ness noun
  • ܴf·· adverb
  • ܴf· noun
  • non·ܴf·· adjective
  • non·ܴf···ness noun
  • non·ܴf·· adverb
  • dzܳȴܴf verb (used with object)
  • ·ܴf verb
  • un·ܴf·· adjective
  • un·ܴf···ness noun
  • un·ܴf·· adverb
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of suffer1

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English suff(e)ren, from Latin sufferre, from suf- suf- ( def ) + ferre “to bring, carry”; compare Old French sofrir, from Vulgar Latin ܴڴڱī (unrecorded); bear 1( def ), -phore ( def )
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of suffer1

C13: from Old French soffrir, from Latin sufferre, from sub- + ferre to bear
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Idioms and Phrases

see not suffer fools gladly .
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“John Proctor” initiates a conversation with Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” about the way the suffering of women in this American classic is given painfully short shrift.

From

The fish once filled the bay, but federal wildlife officials declared the population endangered after determining it had suffered a drastic decline.

From

Bill Plaschke writes the Lakers have never suffered a more demoralizing playoff exit, but there are still reasons to hope for a title run soon.

From

"Gamers will suffer most, with little hope of prices decreasing," he said.

From

McDonald's has suffered its biggest drop in US sales since the height of Covid, a fall that it said was driven by wider concerns about the US economy.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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suff.sufferable