benumbed 1 of 2

adjective

as in numbed
lacking in sensation or feeling my benumbed ears took a few minutes to warm up after the frigid air outside

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

benumbed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of benumb
as in reduced
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling a succession of personal tragedies had benumbed him to all grief

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for benumbed
  1. numbed
  2. reduced
  3. numb
  4. dulled
  5. asleep
  6. blunted
  7. diminished
  8. weakened
Adjective
  • When Bill’s older brother Henry (Barry Ward) finds the pianist in numbed solitude in his dingy apartment, Bill has canceled all his upcoming gigs, saying Scotty cannot be replaced.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Ingber also notes the numbed response to these strikes from much of the American public, something that, in part, may come from the routine nature of these drone strikes as something that the nation has become desensitized to dropping bombs on enemies.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 21 Oct. 2025
Definition of numbed
Verb
  • To help pay for its tax cuts, the act reduced Medicaid payments by a trillion dollars over the next decade, though it was designed to delay the full impact of the cuts until 2027, after this year’s elections.
    — Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The agency reduced service earlier this year and has proposed more cuts in recent board meetings.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of reduced
Adjective
  • After nine relocations, baseball fanbases became numb to abandonment, but by 1971, Washington fans who were losing their second franchise in 11 years, had enough.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 23 Sep. 2026
  • At one point in the swim, her hand went directly into a compass jellyfish, leaving it numb for a while.
    — Rachel Roberts, Idaho Statesman, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of numb
Verb
  • None of this ever accumulates much weight, however, since the conflicts are all dulled by the one-note absurdity of the farcical plotting.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Then there is smell, dulled by our reliance on artificial fragrance; and sound, overwhelmed by notification pings.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of dulled
Adjective
  • Marris pointed to her daughter, asleep in the back seat of her SUV, and explained Brooklyn’s digestion struggles.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Caleb was asleep in his bed with his mother when he was struck in the head by a bullet, according to WGHP.
    — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of asleep
Verb
  • The tension of Noah’s character, which Lanterns presents as a parallel to John’s, is immediately blunted by the show’s need to soften and resolve everything left uncertain in John’s.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Know More There’s plenty of history to look back on for House Democrats who worry that a favorable political climate could get blunted by last-minute GOP spending.
    — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of blunted
Verb
  • That is quite far apart from the commercial industry, which actually stands to be diminished by these policy reforms.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 7 Oct. 2026
  • By raw numbers, net domestic out-migration of Californians to other states continues even as the California exodus overall has diminished in strength.
    — Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of diminished
Verb
  • Lower-ticket maintenance items have held steadier in sales, which can help to prop up the top line, but the per-store productivity weakened even where top-line sales looked flat, Graff said.
    — Kevin Williams, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The region’s long investment in coal and steel became a trap once the economic basis for those industries weakened.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of weakened
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Benumbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/benumbed. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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