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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Adjective
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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
Verb
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The character, played by Esteban Andres Cruz, has been reduced to a simpering stereotype who makes a pass at a cop and mimics a blow job.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
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Seen from this perspective, ecology cannot be reduced to questions of proximity alone.—
Manuela Moscoso,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Brands are used to reports and likely just as numb to petitions.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Footwear News,
3 Apr. 2026
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The steering effort is dramatically reduced without feeling numb; the system filters out road vibration while preserving the intuitive sense of what the front tires are doing.—
Sean Evans,
Robb Report,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Though there was a thrilling edge to their early work—the lightning-in-a-bottle sample drill of Polo Perks and Moh Baretta, that spine-tingling Pasto Flocco run—it’s been dulled a bit in favor of ambling minimalism.—
Olivier Lafontant,
Pitchfork,
6 Apr. 2026
-
In recent weeks, the vibe inside the arena has been dulled, with bad basketball, little star power and no effervescent Curry.—
Sports Columnist,
San Francisco Chronicle,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
My 13-year-old is finally asleep.—
Liz Koch,
STAT,
6 Apr. 2026
-
The Masters champ sought help in 2017 after his first DUI arrest, also in the Jupiter are after police found Woods asleep at the wheel in a running car.—
Madeleine Marr,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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For now, some of those near-term increases have been blunted some by Americans’ tax refunds; however, that’s not an endless well.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
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The partisan edge in the election-year vote was blunted by 14 Republicans joining 96 Democrats in approving the contract on a 110-31 vote.—
Mark Pazniokas,
Hartford Courant,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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More elderly people could find themselves at the mercy of an obscure government program meant to save them from harm and preserve their dignity when their ability to take care of themselves is diminished.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
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But with the chances of a Fed rate cut later this year highly diminished now and, with the reality that a cut (if it is issued) is likely to be by just 25 basis points, these estimates are unlikely to change dramatically, either.—
Matt Richardson,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But, Scanlon noted, the budget was weakened by federal policy changes.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Shipping and insurance costs, inflation and uncertainty are on the rise, and with currencies in developing countries now weakened, imports such as fuel and food are even more expensive for residents.—
Kevin Liptak,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Benumbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/benumbed. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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