suffer
suffer Lexical Profile
suffer Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To experience or be subjected to physical pain, mental distress, illness, or hardship.
"Many patients suffer from chronic back pain due to poor posture at their desks."
To sustain or undergo an adverse event, loss, damage, or defeat.
"The coastal region suffered extensive infrastructure damage during the tropical storm."
To become worse in quality, performance, or condition as a result of neglect or unfavorable circumstances.
"His academic grades began to suffer after he took on a demanding part-time job."
To tolerate, permit, or put up with someone or something unpleasant (formal or literary).
"The veteran editor was known as a strict perfectionist who did not suffer fools gladly."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to a specific illness, condition, or ongoing distress, 'suffer' is typically used intransitively with the preposition 'from' (e.g., 'suffer from migraines'), whereas it is used transitively without a preposition when referring to a direct event, injury, or loss (e.g., 'suffer a defeat' or 'suffer a concussion').
• Rhymes for suffer
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-Norman 'suffrir' and Old French 'sofrir', ultimately derived from Vulgar Latin '*sufferire' and Classical Latin 'sufferre' ('to bear, undergo, endure'), formed from 'sub-' ('under, up from below') and 'ferre' ('to carry, bear').