suffuse

/səˈfjuz/

Other forms: suffused; suffusing; suffuses

The verb suffuse means to spread and fill a space, like the way the smell of wildflowers might suffuse a meadow.

Suffuse is a synonym for steep. Like tea whose flavor grows stronger the more it steeps, when you suffuse something it spreads throughout until an area is full, or even overly full. Another synonym, infuse, looks a lot like suffuse. Both words come from the Latin word fundere, which means "to pour."

Definitions of suffuse

1. verb

   cause to spread or flush or flood through, over, or across
   “The sky was suffused with a warm pink color”

   synonyms: perfuse

   type of:

   flush

   cause to flow or flood with or as if with water
2. verb

   become overspread as with a fluid, a colour, a gleam of light
   “His whole frame suffused with a cold dew”

   type of:

   change

   undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature