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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 Word 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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Word 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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Word 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.

Both Mr and Mrs Sebastian, who are now separated, said they had suffered with post traumatic stress disorder since her death.

From

She was taken to hospital after suffering extensive facial trauma and multiple fractures, where she died the following day.

From

Throughout the year she suffered a continuous run of viral infections and colds.

From

We are made invisible by the editorial decisions of people who find our lives too political, too inconvenient — whose audiences have accepted our suffering as unremarkable.

From

“He’s made some mistakes and the people around him are suffering because of it. Not only can he lose his wife, played by the wonderful Deanna Allison, but he can also lose his freedom.”

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