Meaning of suffer in English

suffer

verb

/ˈsʌf.ər/ us

/ˈsʌf.ɚ/

suffer verb (FEEL PAIN)

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B1 [ I ]

to experience physical or mental pain:

I think he suffered a lot when his wife left him.

She suffers in the winter when it's cold and her joints get stiff.

She's been suffering from (= been ill with) cancer for two years.

Johnny suffers from (= is often ill with) asthma.

Do you suffer from (= do you have) any allergies?

If you're not happy with it, you should complain. Don't just suffer in silence (= without saying anything).

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to accept or continue in a situation that is difficult or unpleasant

bearI will bear the responsibility for whatever happens.
endureShe endured years of hip pain before seeing a surgeon.
sufferShe suffers from severe asthma.
acceptI have finally accepted that I can't change who he is.
resign yourself toI have resigned myself to the fact that I'll never work again.
become resigned toPeople have become resigned to the fact that increased security means much longer wait times at airports.

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It's some comfort to know that he died instantly and didn't suffer.
We cannot stand idly by while these people suffer.
If he is suffering, he certainly shows no outward sign of it.
She'd suffered terribly over the years but it hadn't made her bitter.
It's terrible to see the children suffer.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Being & falling ill

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Experiencing and suffering

suffer verb (EXPERIENCE)

B2 [ I or T ]

to experience or show the effects of something bad:

The Democrats suffered a crushing defeat in the last election.

25 policemen suffered minor injuries during the riots.

The city suffered another blow last month with the closure of the local car factory.

If you go and eat three helpings of dessert, you'll just have to suffer the consequences!

[ + obj + -ing verb ] I had to suffer her father moaning for half an hour on the phone last night!

When you're working such long hours, it's inevitable that your marriage will start to suffer.

Like a lot of his films, it suffers from being too long.

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Pregnant women often suffer from iron deficiency.
No one should have to suffer such degrading treatment.
Do you suffer from migraine?
She was admitted to hospital suffering from shock.
He has helped patients suffering from anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Experiencing and suffering

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Idiom

not suffer fools gladly

(Definition of suffer from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

suffer | American Dictionary

suffer

verb

/ˈsʌf·ər/

suffer verb (EXPERIENCE)

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[ I/T ]

to experience or show the effects of something bad:

[ T ] About 50,000 bicyclists suffer serious head injuries each year.

[ T ] Block’s own farm has suffered large financial setbacks.

[ I ] If you and your husband have jobs in different cities, your marriage is likely to suffer.

suffer verb (FEEL PAIN)

[ I ]

to experience physical or mental pain:

She suffers in cold weather when her joints get stiff.

He suffers from migraine headaches.

(Definition of suffer from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of suffer

suffer

Apparently, the abbey had suffered from the loss of seasonal pastures, a recurring but disastrous phenomenon.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, it suffers from a number of shortcomings.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

At baseline, 39 of the participants were classified as suffering from depression.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Since a claim is a duty owed particularly to the person, the unfairness is plainly suffered by that person.

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He did, and there is no doubt that viewed from 2006, his work suffered accordingly.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Under that circumstance, both quality of caregiving and infant development suffered.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

His reputation suffered after his death (his style did not develop during the last few decades of his life) and has still not been rehabilitated.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Narrative form integrates situations and context, and less salient cues, to infer whether an emotion indicates suffering or something else.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

While the text is hugely informative, it suffers from a number of important shortcomings.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Unfortunately she suffered complications in a later pregnancy and the stitch had to be removed.

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Assessing the larger numbers of women suffering severe maternal morbidity would vastly increase their workload.

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We then quantify the stretching by considering the total stretch suffered during this finite period of time.

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The latter case also suffers secondary bifurcation for some values of the relevant parameters of the problem.

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While this approach is more relevant to the practical flow, it suffers from some constraints.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Whilst this book is a welcome addition to the palaeontological literature, it is important to stress that it suffers some drawbacks.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of suffer?