blunts

verb

present tense third-person singular of blunt
as in reduces
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling the mushy music blunted the effect of the movie's final tragic scene

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of blunts But Democrats are celebrating the decision, which blunts some of the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year allowing more coordinated spending between parties and candidates. — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 26 Aug. 2026 And that success blunts the effectiveness of what the Iranians are trying to do at the Strait of Hormuz. — CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026 Several studies show that dietary fiber blunts the blood sugar response, helping prevent spikes and dips. — Brittany Lubeck, Verywell Health, 8 July 2026 The cinematography drains vitality from even its most visually obvious ideas with lighting that blunts the impact of nearly every other department. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 25 Mar. 2026 By this decade, your body has started to naturally lose muscle mass, and putting on new muscle may be more difficult due to anabolic resistance, which blunts the muscle’s ability to respond to external stimuli like exercise and protein. — Emma Loewe, Outside, 1 Jan. 2026 For Sanders, landing and holding a blue-chip defensive back during a losing season is a massive recruiting win that blunts any narratives of recruits fleeing the program. — Rowan Fisher-Shotton, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025 For Singh, Stargate blunts the essence of the Clayton Act by potentially eliminating competition down the road. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 23 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blunts
  1. reduces
  2. dulls
  3. numbs
  4. deadens
  5. diminishes
  6. weakens
  7. dampens
  8. decreases
Verb
  • This creates a cleaner edge, makes mowing easier, and reduces competition between the tree and turf.
    — Tricia Goss, Southern Living, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The plan also reduces investment in Central Maryland transit by approximately $360 million, or 12%, while shrinking the Baltimore region’s share of statewide transit investment from 34% to 30%.
    — Brian O'Malley, Baltimore Sun, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of reduces
Verb
  • Oversaturating floors can result in mold or mildew growth, lifting, warping, or swelling, while the soap can also leave behind a residue that dulls the finish, creating a cloudy or streaky appearance.
    — Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Sep. 2026
  • But Aroonpheng’s worldbuilding is arcane to a fault, with no thanks to a weirdly flat rhythm that dulls the excitement of the film’s many narrative swerves.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of dulls
Verb
  • The slime of some species also numbs an attacker’s tongue, protecting them from predators.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 July 2026
  • This is the type of consistency that numbs fans from their love of the game.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2026
Definition of numbs
Verb
  • Oppressively hot, lie-down-and-take-a-nap hot, hydration-break hot, the kind of hot that deadens feet.
    — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 10 July 2026
Definition of deadens
Verb
  • When the quantum of color deposited by the brush diminishes, and grows lighter, its essence as paint applied by brush reveals itself.
    — Barry Schwabsky, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The impressive density of this overload, which embraces the possibilities of relatively new technology to find novel ways to deliver and compress context, diminishes as Carter is drawn to Japan by Izumi Adachi (Kiko Mizuhara).
    — Vadim Rizov, Variety, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of diminishes
Verb
  • Fink said the churn weakens the tie between a worker and an employer.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Opponents argue the proposal weakens environmental protections, stifles community input and could fast-track projects like data centers and freeways.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of weakens
Verb
  • An internal polymer maximizes energy transfer and dampens vibration – making shots feel soft and powerful, while soaring high and tight.
    — Scott Kramer, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • That pillowy feeling is thanks to their dreamstrike+ foam, which absorbs shock and dampens the impact of each step—especially important when walking on unforgiving surfaces, like cobblestones or concrete.
    — Shannon Bauer, InStyle, 28 June 2026
Definition of dampens
Verb
  • The front finally moves through on Friday, but some heavy rain will still be possible early, before the chance of rain decreases into the weekend.
    — Michael Autovino, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • The Nebraska researchers also found that hafnia becomes more stable as its thickness decreases.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of decreases

Browse Nearby Words

bluntness
blunts
blur
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Blunts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blunts. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

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