DEADENED Synonyms: 144 Similar and Opposite Words

deadened 1 of 2

adjective

as in anesthetized

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

deadened

2 of 2

verb

past tense of deaden

as in undermined

to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality an excess of detail deadens much of the mystery novel's suspense

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in reduced

to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling a couple of aspirins deadened the headache

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 deadened

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, 3 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for deadened

Adjective

Direct evidence on the mole-rat brain response to isopropyl myristate came from functional ultrasound imaging, a technique that tracks blood flow non-invasively in an anesthetized animal.

— Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 21 July 2026
Future research could help clinicians guide the anesthetized brain toward a sleep-like state, rather than a coma-like one.

— Lucy Nemchek, Hartford Courant, 15 May 2026

Definition of anesthetized

Verb

The court earlier said that the judge decided against an open trial to ensure that national security interests wouldn’t be undermined.

— Kanis Leung, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026
Yet their efforts are undermined by the very German institutions meant to support them.

— John Hopewell, Variety, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of undermined

Verb

He was sentenced to four years’ probation and initially ordered to stay away from his ex-wife and two children for six years, which was later reduced to two years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

— Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026
The film, set between the years 1945 and 1947, depicts a society struggling to recover from war, only to be reduced, once again, by the arrival of a kaiju (as giant monsters are known in Japanese, and to fans of the corresponding film genre).

— Matt Alt, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of reduced

Adjective

The centerpiece of the government’s case is that the defendants surreptitiously drugged women.

— Kara Scannell, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026
Like Dominique Pelicot, the French man who used the online chat platform Coco to recruit men to rape his drugged and unconscious wife, the @SteveCumfulls of the world thrive on the internet’s reach and de-facto anonymity.

— Anahid Nersessian, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of drugged

Verb

The Times also found that the towers had no visible shear walls, and that the uniform orientation of their columns weakened these high-rises against seismic forces.

— Avery Schmitz, CNN Money, 8 Nov. 2026
Once a symbol of superlative government competence, the nation’s weakened federal space agency has largely outsourced its extraterrestrial ambitions to the private sector.

— Peter Jamison, Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2026

Definition of weakened

Verb

But strong export growth has dulled a sense of urgency over launching policies to help stimulate the domestic economy, analysts said.

— ABC News, ABC News, 10 Nov. 2026
The primary effects generally wear off in less than an hour, but a person’s senses may remain dulled and their judgment and coordination impaired for several hours afterward.

— Christopher P. Holstege, The Conversation, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of dulled

Adjective

Certain men have reportedly watched CCTV footage of their stupefied selves inexplicably helping their robbers gut their apartments of possessions.

— Mattha Busby, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026
The man hugged a bag, the woman shouted and flailed her arms, and the young teenage boy pulled at his sister, who seemed stupefied.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 July 2026

Definition of stupefied

Verb

His crass, combative rhetoric, frequent public attacks and norm-breaking behavior have exhausted the American people.

— Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 11 Nov. 2026
The collateral damage could be to exhausted voters who simply wanted the direction of the country to change.

— Christopher Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2026

Definition of exhausted

Browse Nearby Words

dead ends

deadened

deadening

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Deadened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deadened. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of deadened

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

boilerplate

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes