ahogar
verbCEFR B2
What does “ahogar” mean in English?
to stifle, to suppress
to stifle, to suppress (figurative: to choke off initiative, creativity, or growth; ahogar la iniciativa)
Example sentences
La burocracia excesiva está ahogando la iniciativa emprendedora de miles de pequeñas empresas.
Excessive bureaucracy is strangling the entrepreneurial initiative of thousands of small businesses.
La regulación excesiva puede ahogar la innovación si no se diseña con criterios de proporcionalidad.
Excessive regulation can stifle innovation if it is not designed with proportionality in mind.
Los altos impuestos y los trámites interminables ahogan el potencial de muchos negocios antes de que lleguen a despegar.
High taxes and endless red tape stifle the potential of many businesses before they even get off the ground.
How to use it
Ahogar in its figurative sense means 'to stifle', 'to choke', or 'to strangle' — suppressing something's ability to develop or function. Frame: ahogar la iniciativa / la creatividad / el crecimiento. The target is almost always an abstract noun representing a potential or force. More vivid and rhetorical than suprimir or bloquear.
Common mistake
This figurative ahogar takes an abstract direct object (la iniciativa, la creatividad) — no personal a. Distinguish from ahogarse (reflexive, drown literally). The figurative sense is more common in formal written Spanish than in speech. Sofocar is a near-synonym but carries more connotation of actively extinguishing a flame.