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Glite Dictionary
asphyxiating

asphyxiating

9.6
Making it very hard to breathe because there is not enough air
  • adjective
  • /æsfɪkˈseɪtɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : asfixiante
  • The thick smoke in the room was asphyxiating, making it hard to breathe.

Examples

  • The novel takes place in an eerie, asphyxiating hospital where the two main characters, a mother and a daughter, are confined among a mass of nameless and silent women.

    Academic text (2017)

  • During the heat wave, the lack of air circulation made the room feel asphyxiating and uncomfortable.

  • And so at some point this small group of people were slowly starving and asphyxiating and they eventually gave up.

  • The novel takes place in an eerie, asphyxiating hospital where the two main characters, a mother and a daughter, are confined among a mass of nameless and silent women.

Synonyms

suffocating
vsasphyxiating
1 5.1

Making it hard to breathe because the air is hot, close, or not fresh

causes life threatening oxygen loss rather than only causing discomfort
unbreathable
vsasphyxiating
1 6.6

Air that is unsafe to breathe because of smoke or chemicals

causes life threatening oxygen loss instead of merely being unsafe to breathe
suffocative
vsasphyxiating
8.6

Hot, heavy air that makes it hard to breathe

causes life threatening oxygen loss rather than just making breathing hard

How Suffocating

asphyxiating
  • Specialized
9.6
stifling
4 5.3
suffocating
1 5.1

Surface Forms

asphyxiating positive

Morphology

asphyxiating = asphyxiate (opaque) = asphyx + iate + ing

The base 'asphyxiate' is not transparently derived from a recognizable English root word.

Etymology

Asphyxiating comes from Greek parts a- meaning 'not' and sphyx meaning 'pulse', so it originally meant 'without a pulse'. That's why something described as asphyxiating cuts off breathing or oxygen and can make you lose your pulse.