What does strangled mean?
“Strangled” is the past tense and past participle of “strangle.” Literally, it describes killing or attempting to kill someone by compressing the throat and preventing breathing. Figuratively, it refers to suppressing or restricting something that ought to be freely expressed or allowed to develop, such as a voice, sound, opportunity, or creative project. The word can also describe a sound produced with a restricted throat, especially a strained cry or laugh. Its strong association with suffocation makes it vivid and sometimes intense, while figurative uses can suggest silencing, repression, or constraint. It is used in both British and American English and appears in expressions involving strangled voices, cries, laughs, and sounds, as well as figurative descriptions of something being stifled or suppressed.
To kill or attempt to kill someone by compressing their throat; to choke.
"The attacker strangled the victim."
Usually transitive. Figurative uses mean to suppress or prevent the expression or development of something.
Describing a sound, voice, or expression produced with difficulty because the throat is compressed or the sound is suppressed.
"A strangled noise escaped from behind the door."
This is a participial adjective use of the verb, especially common with “laugh,” “cry,” “voice,” and “scream.”
From choking to silencing a voice, “strangled” describes the sudden loss of what should be freely expressed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does strangled come from?
The word comes from Middle English “strangle,” which was borrowed from Latin “strangulare,” meaning to choke or suffocate. The Latin verb is associated with “strangula,” a noose or strangling instrument, and ultimately with a root meaning to tighten or bind. English developed related forms such as “strangler” and “strangulate,” while the modern past form “strangled” follows the regular English inflection pattern.
Related word forms
How strangled is actually used
The word is most often associated with a violent physical action, but it is also widely used figuratively for the suppression of speech, creativity, or development. The past-tense and past-participle form is commonly used before a noun, as in “a strangled laugh” or “a strangled cry.”
Easily confused with strangled
“Strangled” means killed or suppressed by constriction, whereas “straggled” means lagged behind or wandered off from a group.