suffer
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: sŭfʹər
ipa: /ˈsʌfə/
enpr: sŭfʹər
ipa: /ˈsʌfɚ/
rhymes: -ʌfə(ɹ)
Forms: form: suffers
form: suffering
form: suffered
form: suffered
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: suffer
form: suffer
form: suffered
form: suffer
form: sufferest
form: suffered
form: sufferedst
form: suffers
form: suffereth
form: suffered
form: suffer
form: suffered
form: suffer
form: suffered
form: suffer
form: -
form: suffering
form: suffered
Etymology: From Middle English suffren, from Anglo-Norman suffrir, from Latin sufferre (“to offer, hold up, bear, suffer”), from sub- (“up, under”) + ferō (“I carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”). Displaced native Old English þrōwian.
Senses: examples: text: Many artists suffer before becoming famous.
synonyms: bear
glosses: To undergo hardship.
examples: text: At least he didn't suffer when he died in the car crash.
synonyms: agonize
anguish
thole
glosses: To feel pain.
examples: text: If you keep partying like this, your school-work will suffer.
text: Our correspondent found that timekeeping had suffered following the substitution of Class 5 4-6-0s on these workings.
ref: 1961 October, “Motive Power Miscellany: Scottish Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 638:
synonyms: word: deteriorate
word: worsen
word: atrophy
word: break down
word: crack
word: decline
word: deteriorate
word: degenerate
word: devolve
word: fade
word: fall off
word: go bad
word: go downhill
word: go left
word: go off
word: go pear-shaped
word: go sideways
word: go south
word: go to hell
word: go to pot
word: go to seed
word: go to the dogs
word: go wrong
word: lapse
word: molder
word: pejorate
word: retrograde
word: suffer
word: spend
word: sweal
word: shrivel
word: tabefy
word: wither
word: wither away
word: wane
word: wanse
word: worsen
glosses: To become worse.
examples: text: I've been suffering your insults for years.
text: We hope you never have to suffer the same pain.
text: If you may pleaſe to thinke I loue the King, / And through him, what’s neereſt to him, which is / Your gracious ſelfe; embrace but my direction, / If your more ponderous and ſetled proiect may ſuffer alteration.
ref: c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
text: Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.
ref: 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:
synonyms: word: bear
word: dree
word: thole
word: abear
word: abide
word: aby
word: accept
word: allow
word: bear
word: bide
word: brook
word: dree
word: endure
word: forbear
word: go along with
word: live with
word: pass
word: pocket
word: pouch
word: put up with
word: stand
word: stick
word: stomach
word: suffer
word: swallow
word: take
word: take sitting down
word: thole
word: tolerate
word: undergang
word: undergo
glosses: To endure, undergo.
examples: text: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to liue.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 22:18:
text: But Iesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come vnto me: for of such is þe kingdome of heauen.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 19:14:
text: These constitute the important inflectional changes that have taken place in Modern English. There are other grammatical changes, mostly syntactical in their nature, into which the limits of this work do not suffer us to enter.
ref: 1879, Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury, History of the English Language, page 134:
text: "Employ" includes to suffer or permit to work.
ref: 1938, The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 203
text: […] it shall be unlawful for any person to cause, allow, permit or suffer any vehicle to be parked […] beyond the period of time established by the duration of the parking meter […]
ref: 1978, Section 31-36 of the Code of Montgomery County, Maryland
topics: law
synonyms: permit
glosses: To allow.
Synonyms: word: ache
word: agonize
word: anguish
word: hurt
word: pain
word: passion
word: suffer
word: thole
word: throe
word: wark
word: wring
Hypernyms: word: feel
word: perceive
Hyponyms: word: smart
word: sting
word: twinge
Derived terms: insufferable
sufferable
sufferance
suffer by comparison
sufferer
suffer fools gladly
gladly suffer fools
suffer from
suffering
suffer in silence
the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must
unsufferable
Related terms: word: sublate
word: sublation
word: cry out
word: gnash
word: groan
word: moan
word: scream
word: scrunch
word: shriek
word: spasm
word: squirm
word: wince
word: writhe
word: agonized