numbed 1 of 2

numbed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of numb

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
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 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
Adjective
  • My hand instantly went numb, the wrist and fingers falling limp and useless.
    Todd Orr, Outdoor Life, 30 July 2026
  • As people around her begin slipping into an emotionally numb trance described as being eclipsed, the boundaries between Bego’s imagination, the digital world and physical reality begin to dissolve.
    Emiliano de Pablos, Variety, 30 July 2026
Verb
  • Decades of scrolling have dulled our senses somewhat; this is inevitable.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Note that the texture may be slightly less crisp, and the flavor a little dulled once soft spots begin to develop.
    Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 8 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • In case of emergency, there’s a lyre on the nightstand that lulls him asleep.
    Brandon Follick, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2026
  • An intoxicated Flint man was arrested after he was found asleep in his vehicle and blocking lanes of Interstate 75 in Oakland County, Michigan State Police said.
    Joseph Buczek, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The company, which focuses on the athletic sports accessories industry, also reduced its full year revenue guidance.
    Fred Imbert, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2026
  • At all five, at least two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — well above the roughly 52% district average.
    Austin Horn August 11, Miami Herald, 11 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Exports flowing from Saudi ports have blunted some of the impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure.
    Fatma Khaled, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Weary of seeing people pick their teeth with daggers, Cardinal Richelieu has knives blunted in royal France.
    New York Times, New York Times, 17 July 2026
Verb
  • The emails from McDonnell promising incoming bank wires and new revenue streams subsided.
    Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Gardeners in areas with mild winters can also get away with dividing and transplanting in the fall once the summer heat has subsided.
    The Spruce, The Spruce, 4 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The influence and interest of the United States in the islands must be increased and not diminished.
    Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Then, there is the rise of China, which has shifted Washington’s strategic focus away from Europe and diminished NATO’s centrality to American concerns.
    Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
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

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Cite this Entry

“Numbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/numbed. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

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