CAUTERIZED Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

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

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for cauterized

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

Verb

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
There’s a nice bitter chocolate flavor that’s blunted perfectly by the brownies’ delicate sweetness.

— Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 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

Gallery owners say years of mixed signals and the prospect of construction threaten a center already diminished by vacancies — and fear tenants may never come back.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
Likewise, the failure to hire an effective leader for the Blockchain Association has diminished the industry’s influence in the Capitol.

— Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 28 Sep. 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

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

But as the initial euphoria of the rescue has subsided, officials have begun to raise difficult questions and trade accusations about the security blunders that could have led to a major disaster.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026
Questions about security failures But as the initial euphoria of the rescue has subsided, officials have begun to raise difficult questions and trade accusations about the security blunders that could have led to a major disaster.

— Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 4 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.

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cauterize

cauterized

cauterizes

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“Cauterized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cauterized. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of cauterized

verb

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