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Suffer

[suhf-er]

verb (used without object)

to undergo or feel pain or distress: The patient is still suffering.

to sustain injury, disadvantage, or loss: One's health suffers from overwork. The business suffers from lack of capital.

to undergo a penalty, as of death: The traitor was made to suffer on the gallows.

to endure pain, disability, death, etc., patiently or willingly.

verb (used with object)

to undergo, be subjected to, or endure (pain, distress, injury, loss, or anything unpleasant): to suffer the pangs of conscience.

to undergo or experience (any action, process, or condition): to suffer change.

to tolerate or allow: I do not suffer fools gladly.

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Suffer is one of our favorite verbs.

So is fletcherise. Does it mean:

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

to flee; abscond:

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Origin:
1200–50; Middle English suff(e)ren < Latin sufferre, equivalent to suf- suf- + ferre to bear¹; compare Old French sofrir < Vulgar Latin *sufferīre

Related forms

suf·fer·a·ble, adjective

suf·fer·a·ble·ness, noun

suf·fer·a·bly, adverb

suf·fer·er, noun

non·suf·fer·a·ble, adjective

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non·suf·fer·a·ble·ness, noun

non·suf·fer·a·b·ly, adverb

out·suf·fer, verb (used with object)

pre·suf·fer, verb

un·suf·fer·a·ble, adjective

un·suf·fer·a·ble·ness, noun

un·suf·fer·a·b·ly, adverb

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
5. sustain. 7. stomach, stand, abide.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Suffer

Example Sentences

People who suffer from fibromyalgia experience problems beyond the pain caused by their illness.

Educate, educate, educate--and suffer the consquences.

Civil wars are obviously damaging, and not many countries suffer them.

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People who suffer from fibromyalgia experience problems beyond the pain caused by their illness.

Educate, educate, educate--and suffer the consquences.

Civil wars are obviously damaging, and not many countries suffer them.

Afghan women suffer under the constraints of tribalism, poverty, and war.

It will hit the third world the hardest but industrial nations will still suffer.

Today, millions continue to suffer from the man-made disaster.

It is somewhat tender?most varieties suffer damage when temperatures dip below the teens.

The economic temptation is strong: five times more soldiers suffer mental than physical wounds in war.

There are actors who suffer nobly, with tragic and stoical reserve.

But in this marriage of convenience, both parties suffer.

The lessons from other big downturns suggest that migrants will suffer.

But if you ski in bounds and suffer from cold hands, you'll happily pay-and forgive the weight.

Studies show that working, career, women suffer the same fate as the men.

Monkeys suffer the same fate only rarely, but then again they can't sing or dance.

When plants are dug for transplanting, the root hairs inevitably suffer some exposure, and the plant wilts as a result.

Patients who suffer from disease or injury that leave them unable to move have little hope of independent mobility.

Women are more likely to suffer gastrointestinal ailments.

Some leaders draw hefty compensation while their states suffer from huge shortfalls.

The young suffer disproportionately from the regime's failures.

It's unclear, for example, why the rodent itself doesn't suffer from the poison.

Finding could explain why ethnic groups suffer from particular common diseases.

Without raw materials and an efficient immigration policy, they suffer.

Citrus may suffer from chlorosis due to iron, manganese, or zinc deficiency.

It's not only humans who suffer from the depredations of viruses.

Military cooperation would be one of the first areas to suffer.

The secret service dug up scandal on the president-and will suffer for it.

Animals that are not directly killed by an oil spill may still suffer indirectly due to habitat damage.

For people who suffer from debilitating migraine headaches, advances toward alleviating their agony can't come quickly enough.

They suffer from malnutrition and various viral and bacterial diseases.

Normally tolerant of saline or alkaline soils, they sometimes suffer from chlorosis.

Fisheries and the environment both suffer from inefficient fishing techniques.

Most researchers state that the animals they experiment upon don't suffer.

McKinsey is unlikely to suffer any immediate disaster.

In short, conservation reserves that exclude tribal peoples suffer.

Especially because it is said that long distance runners often suffer from alcohol abuse.

Apt to suffer from sudden dieback or borers add to my plant list.

He was surprised that some of the test subjects in his placebo groups seemed to suffer less than those on active drugs.

The time has come for investors in bonds to suffer loss.

People living in these climates have grown accustomed to the harsh weather, but those unprepared for such cold may suffer.

It is no surprise that many people suffer from anxiety.

Hopefully whatever it was did not cause her to suffer.

Both suffer familiar urban quandaries of frustration and decay.

The conventional wisdom at the moment seems to be that the euro zone will suffer a shallow recession next year.

Ideally, future centenarians who avail themselves to life-prolonging advances won't suffer the familiar frailties of old age.

Many boys and men with autism suffer from diminished social and communication skills.

It could also allow parents whose progeny would otherwise suffer from deadly mitochondrial diseases to have healthy children.

The church had convinced everyone that if they didn't pay, they would suffer in the afterlife.

Women who suffer from iron deficiency can give birth to premature or low birth weight infants.

These patients suffer from different mental illnesses-Mrs.

So, unless you frequently suffer from cold ears, this is probably not a desirable attribute.

Women who feel they have control over their home lives are less likely to suffer heart disease than those who do not.

Their numbers suffer primarily from destruction and fragmentation of their habitat.

Every individual must choose what is best for themselves and be prepared to suffer the consequences of bad choices.

They all seem to suffer from one shortcoming or another.

Many of the rest suffer from intermittent supply and unsafe water.

Scientists have known that heart patients who also suffer from depression are at greater risk for a subsequent attack.

Aggressive boys may actually derive pleasure from watching other people suffer pain, a new study says.

She has never seen a tomatillo plant suffer from fusarium or verticillium wilt, two soil-borne fungus.

Results of a new study suggest small children suffer negative short-term cognitive effects after watching the popular show.

As a result, the poor suffer from chronic illnesses longer and are more likely to die of them.

They suffer from a brain abnormality that sets them adrift in an emotionless world.

They'll also be more likely to suffer from pests such as codling moth, since closely set fruit provides.

But department heads and advisers suffer as well under such a market-obsessed academic environment.

People confined to wheelchairs often suffer urinary.

Downstream human communities also may suffer from diminished water resources.

Without large grazing herbivores to eat them, acacia trees suffer because of a shift in the ant populations they house.

Some ice cream truck drivers suffer from anger management issues, which.

The company puts out great cameras, but they suffer from an image problem.

Sure, you may always suffer some taint from the denial, but it.

Within industry, two sectors seem set to suffer in particular.

All autistic children suffer from an impaired ability to.

He's the first of three famous brothers to suffer a tragic end.

The currency of exchange in higher education will continue to suffer from abrupt and unpredictable devaluation.

But a large group of people in rich countries does suffer from nutritional deficiencies: the elderly.

They suffer bad nutrition, kidney ailments, and coat and hair problems.

Perpetually plugged-in youngsters are more likely to suffer poor psychological health.

But in reality, almost anyone can suffer a severe reaction if exposed.

Despite the rising ranks of the unemployed, many companies still suffer from a shortage of skilled finance and accounting.

The organism attacks the roots of banana plants and causes them to suffer from malnutrition.

Teens who are allowed to go to bed later are more likely to suffer from.

It did suffer major reconstruction to accomodate the church's needs.

During a shoot, mic placement is optimized for dialog, and the quality of background sounds can suffer.

The thing they crave primarily is the satisfaction of seeing the criminal actually before them suffer as he made them suffer.

But remember that people also suffer from infected food in almost every city, every day.

And oceans, lakes, and rivers suffer from our pollution and overfishing.

Others say those in pain should not be the ones who suffer because drug addicts have figured out how to abuse their medication.

Those permanently so confined often suffer urinary, respiratory.

The region continues to suffer from power cuts and shortages of fuel and other necessities.

However, millions suffer from untreated but mild memory loss.

Medics say the reason they don't suffer from malnutrition is that there must be lots of micronutrients in their animals' milk.

According to this view, those who do not explore their emotions will suffer the consequences later.

Some cases are so severe that employees are forced to change careers and suffer chronic pain.

They stated in their lawsuit that the online postings caused them to suffer emotionally and professionally.

These measures mean the economy may suffer only a mild downturn.

The conventional wisdom about compact digicams is that quality and features suffer at the expense of size.

Anyone who chooses to go through that is willing to suffer in the short-term for a long-term gain.

If you are a parent, work, and go to school something is going to suffer.

With such depleted reserves, experts say, other creatures would black out and suffer tissue damage.

US civilian polar orbiter coverage might suffer a gap of four years or more.

Astrodome complex say they continue to suffer from a lack of information.

International-relations experts writing about recent events suffer a handicap that other scholars avoid:.

In so far as racial minorities are different, it is because they more often suffer discrimination.

Flowers also stand to suffer when this symbiotic relationship falters.

These individuals sometimes suffer from dramatic shifts in their sense of self.

Firstenberg is one of a growing number of people around the globe who claim they suffer from the same condition.

China's higher-education system-as well as its economic growth-will continue to suffer.

The animals that depend on the fish, such as sea lions, suffer along with the fishermen.

People with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can suffer sudden death from strenuous exercise.

Meth addicts, he told me, ultimately suffer from diminished sense of touch.

Some individuals may have a predisposition to suffer pyschosis and other mental health problems, even after single use.

Skimping on this while money is tight, says the agency, will cause growth to suffer in the long term.

For the millions of people who suffer from phobias, the ordinary can become unbearable.

While their vision is normal in every other way, they suffer from what is often called red-green color blindness.

Defibrillators were twice as likely to suffer a glitch.

Or maybe during the interview they suffer a sudden attack of instant-onset amnesia.

China will suffer even if it is spared catastrophes.

Adjustments must be made so that animals do not suffer and the island does not deteriorate.

Afflicted individuals might suffer problems from clots during high-risk procedures such as surgery and childbirth.

And biofuel companies trying to capitalize on last year's high oil prices may suffer from a crippling one-two punch:.

Nobody storms out of a room because he or she believes that students are going to suffer some injury in the future.

Lots of its emerging-market staff sell private-banking services, which should suffer less.

Some hybrids that do survive suffer blindness or other birth defects, while others die young.

But, they also suffer from the rather problematic side effect of being highly artificial.

But some of them are also working out until they puke, faint or suffer permanent organ damage.

Thousands of people suffer from it, and treatments vary.

What is certain is that some places will suffer more than others.

One handicap that women continue to suffer is their difficulty in attracting funding for such ventures.

Adult animals rarely die from the infection but do suffer permanent weight reduction and a loss of milk yield.

And it is clear that black men benefit from patriarchy, even as they suffer under the oppression of white supremacist culture.

Its banks and stock exchanges were isolated enough from the wider capital markets to suffer few shocks.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

suffer (ˈsʌfə)

—vb
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
	a. to be ill with, esp recurrently
	b. to be given to: he suffers from a tendency to exaggerate

[C13: from Old French soffrir, from Latin sufferre, from sub- + ferre to bear]

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

'sufferer

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

suffer

early 13c., "to undergo, endure" (pain, death, punishment, judgment, grief), from Anglo-Fr. suffrir, from O.Fr. sufrir, from V.L. *sufferire, variant of L. sufferre "to bear, undergo, endure, carry or put under," from sub "up, under" + ferre "to carry" (see infer). Replaced

EXPAND

O.E. þolian, þrowian. Meaning "to tolerate, allow" is recorded from late 13c.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

suffer

see not suffer fools gladly.

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not suffer fools gladly

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