Deadened (Adjective)

Meaning ¹

Devoid of physical sensation; numb; "his gums were dead from the novocain"; "she felt no discomfort as the dentist drilled her deadened tooth"; "a public desensitized by continuous television coverage of atrocities".

Classification

All adjective clusters.

Examples

• The patient's leg was deadened from the knee down after the spinal block took effect.
• Her fingers were deadened from the cold, making it difficult to play the piano.
• The soldier's emotions had been deadened by the constant exposure to violence and trauma.
• The anesthetic had deadened the area, allowing the doctor to perform the procedure without causing pain.
• Years of poverty and hardship had deadened the community's sense of hope and optimism.

Synonyms

• Dead

Meaning ²

Made or become less intense; "the deadened pangs of hunger".

Classification

All adjective clusters.

Examples

• The screaming tires screeched in the silence of the deserted street, a sound that would normally shatter eardrums, but in that eerie setting seemed somehow deadened.
• Over the years, she'd experienced such traumatic loss that the sting of each successive heartbreak became steadily more deadened, almost predictable.
• As the anesthesia took hold, the patient's sharp pain gave way to a dull, aching throb, a welcome shift from acute agony to a more manageable, deadened sensation.
• Cynicism, shaped through years of witnessing bureaucratic red tape and official incompetence, had left his outrage over these scandals steadily deadened.
• Their footsteps trudged through the knee-deep snow, the soft crunch of each carefully placed step muffled by the heavy deadened air of the dense forest.