Literary notes about stifling (AI summary)
Writers deploy the term "stifling" to evoke both physical and psychological constraints, creating atmospheres that feel almost suffocating. It is frequently used to describe oppressive heat and dense, heavy air in settings ranging from deserted streets burdened by the midday sun [1] and cramped indoor spaces loaded with fumes or heavy smells [2], [3] to the suffocating confines of emotionally charged environments where even a single thought or feeling is hard to breathe [4], [5]. At times, the word extends its influence metaphorically, illustrating the crushing weight of internal conflict or the suppression of passion and creativity [6], [7]. In each instance, "stifling" accentuates a palpable sense of limitation, intensifying the reader’s sensory and emotional experience.
- This boulevard was never much frequented; and now, at two o’clock, in the stifling heat, it was quite deserted.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - There was a stifling smell of hot oil everywhere.
— from Hard Times by Charles Dickens - The kilns were burning, and a stifling vapour set towards us with a pale-blue glare.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavouring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.
— from On Liberty by John Stuart Mill - In spite of everything, this strange man hadn't yet succeeded in completely stifling his heart.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - I mused fantastically, afterwards at home, stifling the living pang of my heart with fantastic dreams.
— from Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The time passed, slow, heavy, mysterious, stifling.
— from The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
