as in reducing
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling
the mushy music blunted the effect of the movie's final tragic scene
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Recent Examples of blunting
San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who sits on the water authority’s board of directors, asked officials to gather more options for blunting the impact of rate hikes.
—
Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2025
Many shutdowns have largely played out over the weekend, blunting the impact, according to the CRFB.
—Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2025
That action led the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to issue a landmark ruling in June blunting the power of judges.
—Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 27 Sep. 2025
But many are now finding that geopolitics is blunting their ambitions.
—Joyce Jiang, CNN Money, 13 Sep. 2025
Other times, long rates resist or even rise, flattening the curve and blunting the Fed’s impact.
—Robert Daugherty, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
While Sinner responded in the second set, highlighted by a backhand smash that ended a 19-shot rally and got the crowd behind him, albeit briefly, Alcaraz wasted no time blunting Sinner’s momentum in the third.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 7 Sep. 2025
Almost 12 million lower-income Americans would lose their health insurance by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), blunting the significant coverage gains made under the ACA.
—Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 4 July 2025
Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2025
Many shutdowns have largely played out over the weekend, blunting the impact, according to the CRFB.
—Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2025
That action led the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to issue a landmark ruling in June blunting the power of judges.
—Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 27 Sep. 2025
But many are now finding that geopolitics is blunting their ambitions.
—Joyce Jiang, CNN Money, 13 Sep. 2025
Other times, long rates resist or even rise, flattening the curve and blunting the Fed’s impact.
—Robert Daugherty, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
While Sinner responded in the second set, highlighted by a backhand smash that ended a 19-shot rally and got the crowd behind him, albeit briefly, Alcaraz wasted no time blunting Sinner’s momentum in the third.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 7 Sep. 2025
Almost 12 million lower-income Americans would lose their health insurance by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), blunting the significant coverage gains made under the ACA.
—Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 4 July 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blunting
Verb
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Solutions like breathable film packaging and smart logistics play a crucial role in reducing waste and prolonging shelf life.—
William Jones,
Freep.com,
27 Oct. 2025
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Adopting a healthy lifestyle, including diet, exercise, sleep, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding sugar, eliminating tobacco, and curbing or skipping alcoholic beverages altogether, play a role in reducing early breast cancer recurrence.—
Marnie Goodfriend,
Flow Space,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Warm kitchens speed up staling and fat oxidation, dulling flavors faster.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
26 Oct. 2025
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In Party of Two—the fifth novel in a series featuring the same group of friends—the protagonist, Olivia, has to navigate the spotlight that comes with dating a senator without dulling her own ambitions.—
Karen Ostergren,
The Atlantic,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, the returns on scaling up chatbots are, at present, diminishing.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
30 Oct. 2025
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Adopting China’s position in this way would be a blunder, diminishing Taiwan’s resolve to resist Chinese aggression and coercion.—
STEPHEN WERTHEIM,
Foreign Affairs,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Ocean acidification is weakening the teeth of sharks.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harpers Magazine,
29 Oct. 2025
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The free-trade agenda sought to deregulate the labor market and prioritize market efficiency, strengthening the hands of employers and severely weakening union and social movements, as anti-free traders had predicted.—
Dónal Gill,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Now, Sora 2 might just be another online fad, a reality-deadening distraction that people will soon tire of.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
3 Oct. 2025
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Thin sound deadening The Enabling Technology prize went to CompositeEdge GmbH and ATA Mute BV for a new kind of sound deadening.—
Jonathan M. Gitlin,
ArsTechnica,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Moreover, persistent uncertainty is also dampening economic activity.—
Chloe Taylor,
CNBC,
16 Oct. 2025
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Rising insurance costs, intensifying storms and growing awareness of flood risks are already dampening home sales in some communities − and thus opportunities to simply hand over one’s risk to someone else and move on.—
Debolina Banerjee,
The Conversation,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Blunting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blunting. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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