SUFFER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does suffer mean? 

• SUFFER (verb)
  The verb SUFFER has 11 senses:

1. undergo or be subjected to

2. undergo (as of injuries and illnesses)

3. experience (emotional) pain

4. put up with something or somebody unpleasant

5. get worse

6. feel pain or be in pain

7. feel physical pain

8. feel unwell or uncomfortable

9. be given to

10. undergo or suffer

11. be set at a disadvantage

  Familiarity information: SUFFER used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUFFER (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Undergo or be subjected to

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

endure; suffer

Context example:

Many saints suffered martyrdom

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

experience; go through; see (undergo or live through a difficult experience)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suffer"):

tolerate (have a tolerance for a poison or strong drug or pathogen or environmental condition)

die (suffer or face the pain of death)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

enjoy (have for one's benefit)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Undergo (as of injuries and illnesses)

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

get; have; suffer; sustain

Context example:

He got his arm broken in the scuffle

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

experience; get; have; receive (go through (mental or physical states or experiences))

Verb group:

have (suffer from; be ill with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suffer"):

break down; collapse (collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack)

cramp (suffer from sudden painful contraction of a muscle)

break up; collapse; crack; crack up; crock up (suffer a nervous breakdown)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sufferer (a person suffering from an illness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Experience (emotional) pain

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

Every time her husband gets drunk, she suffers

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

experience; feel (undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind)

Verb group:

abide; bear; brook; digest; endure; put up; stand; stick out; stomach; suffer; support; tolerate (put up with something or somebody unpleasant)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suffer"):

agonise; agonize (suffer agony or anguish)

anguish (suffer great pains or distress)

lose (suffer the loss of a person through death or removal)

grieve; sorrow (feel grief)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue suffer

Derivation:

sufferer (one who suffers for the sake of principle)

suffering (psychological suffering)

suffering (misery resulting from affliction)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Put up with something or somebody unpleasant

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

abide; bear; brook; digest; endure; put up; stand; stick out; stomach; suffer; support; tolerate

Context example:

She stuck out two years in a miserable marriage

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

allow; countenance; let; permit (consent to, give permission)

Verb group:

suffer (experience (emotional) pain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suffer"):

take a joke (listen to a joke at one's own expense)

pay (bear (a cost or penalty), in recompense for some action)

sit out (endure to the end)

take lying down (suffer without protest; suffer or endure passively)

bear up (endure cheerfully)

hold still for; stand for (tolerate or bear)

accept; live with; swallow (tolerate or accommodate oneself to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot suffer Sue

Derivation:

sufferance (a disposition to tolerate or accept people or situations)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Get worse

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

His grades suffered

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

decline; worsen (grow worse)

Verb group:

lose; suffer (be set at a disadvantage)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Feel pain or be in pain

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

hurt; suffer

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suffer"):

choke; gag; strangle; suffocate (struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake)

ail (be ill or unwell)

famish; hunger; starve (be hungry; go without food)

have (suffer from; be ill with)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue suffer

Antonym:

be well (be healthy; feel good)

Derivation:

sufferance (patient endurance especially of pain or distress)

sufferer (a person suffering from an illness)

suffering (feelings of mental or physical pain)

suffering (a state of acute pain)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Feel physical pain

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

ache; hurt; suffer

Context example:

Were you hurting after the accident?

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suffer"):

catch; get (suffer from the receipt of)

twinge (feel a sudden sharp, local pain)

prick; sting; twinge (cause a stinging pain)

kill (be the source of great pain for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue suffer

Derivation:

sufferer (a person suffering from an illness)

suffering (feelings of mental or physical pain)

suffering (a state of acute pain)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Feel unwell or uncomfortable

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

She is suffering from the hot weather

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suffer"):

freeze (be cold)

swelter (be uncomfortably hot)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 9

Meaning:

Be given to

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

She suffers from a tendency to talk too much

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

be given; incline; lean; run; tend (have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 10

Meaning:

Undergo or suffer

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

meet; suffer

Context example:

suffer a terrible fate

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

experience; go through; see (undergo or live through a difficult experience)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 11

Meaning:

Be set at a disadvantage

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

lose; suffer

Context example:

The painting loses something in this light

Hypernyms (to "suffer" is one way to...):

decline; worsen (grow worse)

Verb group:

suffer (get worse)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP

 Context examples 

I was still held to be necessary to my poor mother's training, and, as one of her trials, could not be suffered to absent myself.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Julia did suffer, however, though Mrs. Grant discerned it not, and though it escaped the notice of many of her own family likewise.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The mechanism by which a life is ended, usually in order to relieve pain and suffering.

(Euthanasia Method, NCI Thesaurus)

Whoso breaks the law must suffer hurt.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Loss of brain cells, which happens if you suffer a stroke, can affect your ability to think clearly.

(Brain Diseases, NIH)

The god had no club, so he suffered him to approach quite near.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found out of this horrible affair.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On the misery of what she had suffered, during the concealment of so many months, continued Mrs. Weston, she was energetic.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Not only were we hungry, but we were now suffering from thirst.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

When there is a problem with your nose, your whole body can suffer.

(Nose Injuries and Disorders, NIH)