UUnscrambleHQ
Home/suffocate
UnscrambleHQ Dictionary

suffocate

verb

Suffocate commonly means to deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing, become stultified, suppressed, or stifled, or impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of.

7 meanings9 lettersScrabble 17

Length

9

Scrabble

17

WWF

19

Starts

SU

Ends

ATE

Difficulty

Hard

Dictionary

What Does “SUFFOCATE” Mean?

suffocate has 7 documented senses across verb.

Verb

7 senses
1

deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing

Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow

The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor

They want to suffocate the prisoners

2

impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of

The foul air was slowly suffocating the children

3

become stultified, suppressed, or stifled

He is suffocating — living at home with his aged parents in the small village

Synonyms

4

suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of

His job suffocated him

Synonyms

5

be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen

The child suffocated under the pillow

6

feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air

The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating

Show 1 more verb definition
7

struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake

he swallowed a fishbone and gagged

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

9

Vowels

4

Consonants

5

Word Intelligence

Explore the word suffocate with its definition, score, letter pattern, and useful word game details.

Definition

deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing

Length

9 letters

Starts With

S

Ends With

E

Vowels

4

Consonants

5

Letters

S, U, F, F, O, C, A, T, E

Use Case

Useful for Scrabble, Wordle, crosswords, anagrams, and other word games.

Letter Breakdown

s
u
f
f
o
c
a
t
e

Word Facts

Key letter, score, and pattern facts for suffocate.

SUFFOCATE is a 9-letter word.
It has a Scrabble score of 17.
It starts with S and ends with E.
It contains 4 vowels and 5 consonants.
Its vowel share is about 44%.
It has 1 repeated letter.
It is not a palindrome.
Letter pattern: ABCCDEFGH.
Vowel/consonant pattern: CVCCVCVCV.

Word Strategy

Strategy notes for using suffocate in Scrabble, Wordle-style games, crosswords, and anagram solving.

Scrabble Strategy

★★★★★

SUFFOCATE has a Scrabble score of 17. It is useful for balancing a rack and building steady board position.

Wordle Strategy

★★☆☆☆

SUFFOCATE is not five letters, so it is not a standard Wordle answer, but its letter pattern can still help with word analysis.

Crossword Strategy

★★★☆☆

SUFFOCATE can be useful in crossword solving because it has a clear starting letter, ending letter, and 9-letter structure.

Anagram Strategy

★★★☆☆

SUFFOCATE contains repeated letters, which can make anagram solving more constrained but also easier to pattern-match.

Letter Intelligence

A deeper look at the letter structure, patterns, and useful game signals inside suffocate.

Unique Letters

8

Repeated Letters

1

Highest Value Letter

F

Letter Pattern

ABCCDEFGH

CV Pattern

CVCCVCVCV

Vowel Share

44%

Consonant Share

56%

Bigrams

SU, UF, FF, FO, OC, CA, AT, TE

Trigrams

SUF, UFF, FFO, FOC, OCA, CAT, ATE

Crossword Intelligence

Crossword-style clues, crossing help, and pattern notes for suffocate.

SUFFOCATE is a 9-letter longer themed answer.
It starts with S and ends with E, which helps narrow crossword crossings.
It contains 4 vowels and 5 consonants.
Its vowel/consonant pattern is CVCCVCVCV.
Crossword difficulty estimate: Hard.

Related Words

Word Usage Insights

Practical observations about how this word performs in different word games and puzzle situations.

This word contains 9 letters and is suitable for medium-length word games.
Its consonant/vowel pattern is CVCCVCVCV, making it relatively challenging to recognize.
With a Scrabble score of 17, it offers strong scoring potential.
The word begins with S and ends with E, making it useful for solving pattern-based puzzles.
Some letters repeat, which can be useful when identifying anagrams.

Word Intelligence Links

Explore word lists connected to SUFFOCATE by length, score, vowels, consonants, starting letters, ending letters, and word game tools.

Word Family

Explore words that share a similar beginning or root pattern with suffocate.

Related Word Tools

Explore related word lists, patterns, and tools connected to this page.