numbed 1 of 2

adjective

as in numb
lacking in sensation or feeling numbed fingers that needed warming by the fire

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

numbed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of numb
as in dulled
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling wait for the medication to numb your mouth

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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 numbed
Adjective
When Bill’s older brother Henry (Barry Ward) finds the pianist in numbed solitude in his dingy apartment, Bill has canceled all his upcoming gigs, saying Scotty cannot be replaced. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 13 Feb. 2026 Ingber also notes the numbed response to these strikes from much of the American public, something that, in part, may come from the routine nature of these drone strikes as something that the nation has become desensitized to dropping bombs on enemies. — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 21 Oct. 2025
Verb
Our team reports that as people emerge from the life-or-death struggle for survival, which eclipsed all thought and numbed sensations, their trauma is transforming into a stunned grief. — James Gordon, Time, 14 July 2026 After ensuring the donor area is properly numbed, the medical team will remove individual hair grafts one by one with tiny punches. — Ethan Stone, USA Today, 20 Feb. 2026 At the urgent care unit, the area was numbed and a small incision was made. — Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for numbed
  1. numb
  2. dulled
  3. asleep
  4. reduced
  5. blunted
  6. subsided
  7. diminished
  8. deadened
Adjective
  • Spector is clearly concerned with the pernicious consequences of technology, its ability to numb emotions and steer people into ideological cul-de-sacs.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 9 July 2026
  • Relationships often suffer as people withdraw or feel emotionally numb.
    — Sara Moniuszko, USA Today, 30 June 2026
Definition of numb
Verb
  • Ampere’s research appeared to suggest that the influx of romance book adaptations and romance drama in general has dulled the appetite for reality shows about love.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 29 June 2026
  • Bitch, despite being created with Reed in tandem with My Face Hurts From Smiling, leans more pop and R&B with lyrics that may have been dulled down for palatability.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 23 June 2026
Definition of dulled
Adjective
  • Work told her to log on anyway Getting rid of any interventions that require a parent’s presence in order for the baby to fall back asleep – including rocking, singing and bouncing — is a good trick.
    — Gavin Escott, USA Today, 16 July 2026
  • Her husband was asleep in bed, deeply so, despite an open curtain.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026
Definition of asleep
Verb
  • Demand for oil plunged during the war because supply fell sharply and many folks reduced their oil consumption.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 14 July 2026
  • Trump reduced the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah by about 90% each, undoing protections established by former presidents on public lands that are sacred among many Native Americans.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 14 July 2026
Definition of reduced
Verb
  • Decades of declining violent crime have further blunted the public appetite for executions.
    — Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 30 June 2026
  • The White House’s Iran negotiations rely on the dollar’s leverage, but Tehran has blunted that weapon by using alternative financial architecture, The Wall Street Journal reported, including payments in yuan or cryptocurrency, and adopting a Chinese alternative to the Swift banking network.
    — Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 24 June 2026
Definition of blunted
Verb
  • Violence flared and subsided periodically, and Lebanon and Israel reached ceasefire agreements in 1993, 1996 and after a 2006 war.
    — Anthony Wanis-St John, The Conversation, 10 July 2026
  • Execution remains the big question, but doubts around Apple's strategy have largely subsided.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz,Zev Fima, CNBC, 10 July 2026
Definition of subsided
Verb
  • The ocean’s abundance had been dramatically diminished, but few recreational fishermen noticed; their expectations had been downsized, too.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 July 2026
  • Kylian Mbappé’s powers were diminished in that tournament after sustaining a broken nose, while emerging stars like Michael Olise and Désiré Doué were yet to break through.
    — James Robson, Chicago Tribune, 13 July 2026
Definition of diminished
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

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Cite this Entry

“Numbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/numbed. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of numbed for Spanish Speakers

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