cauterized

verb

past tense of cauterize
as in reduced
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling time had cauterized his bitterness, and he was willing to let bygones be bygones

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cauterized
  1. reduced
  2. blunted
  3. dulled
  4. diminished
  5. weakened
  6. numbed
  7. subsided
  8. deadened
Verb
  • Bassam Abed said at least 10 residences housing some 300 families were reduced to rubble, and families were not given enough time to flee.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026
  • That night’s show was reduced from 29 to 19 songs, between the concert running late from the interruption and Toomey likely not being able to duplicate Castronovo’s lead singing moments as well as his drumming.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of reduced
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
  • 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
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
  • Isaias has weakened dramatically since making landfall last night as a Category 2 hurricane.
    — Erika Angulo, NBC news, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Wide swaths of the Southwest were deluged Sunday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel weakened and moved inland, but coastal communities already battered by high surf emerged with less damage than some officials feared.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of weakened
Verb
  • But the sailors were too numbed with the cold to attempt going forward to secure it.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Damon’s Odysseus is numbed by the massacre of Troy’s civilians; Fiennes’ hates himself for leading the best men of Ithaca to their death, gutting his own community in the heedless destruction of another.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of numbed
Verb
  • Less than a day after that subsided, a second eruption followed.
    — John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 9 Oct. 2026
  • International outrage over the carnage in Gaza, meanwhile, has largely subsided, with many countries preferring a failing peace process to none at all.
    — KHALED ELGINDY, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of subsided
Verb
  • Exposing the dental pulp and cleaning out the cavity’s contents also would have deadened the nerves and blood vessels there, leading to pain relief, Zubova said.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
  • Merrill had the same impulse—the need to become a self not necessarily free of all that money could buy but not crippled or deadened by it, either.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
Definition of deadened
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.

Browse Nearby Words

cauterize
cauterized
cauterizes
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cauterized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cauterized. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of nexus

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All