as in apathy
a lack of emotion or emotional expressiveness
the prisoner exhibited the numbness of someone who had spent more years behind bars than he could remember
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Recent Examples of numbness
White disappears completely into the role without skirting parody, portraying the exhausted hitmaker as startled by his own numbness, blanked out and unsure of what to do next.
—
Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 24 Oct. 2025
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, CMT causes a range of sensory and motor symptoms, including numbness, tingling, pain, muscle weakness and atrophy — deterioration in cells, tissues, and organs.
—Diana Leyva, Nashville Tennessean, 24 Oct. 2025
On long flights, your legs tend to swell, leading to discomfort, cramping, and even numbness—but a good pair of compression leggings, like this pick from CompressionZ, can prevent those symptoms.
—Hillary Maglin, Travel + Leisure, 23 Oct. 2025
Yet according to Peck’s film, recognizing that reality can resemble Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece has led to numbness, rather than meaningful change.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2025
The numbness that started in my left hand quickly spread to more of the left side of my body.
—Michelle Maves, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
The star has been open about her symptoms, including numbness and tingling, before her diagnosis, and found comfort in finding a community.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 10 Oct. 2025
More serious cases may lead to weakness, numbness or speech difficulties.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Whether the numbness was because of the loss itself or due to the realization that the schedule won’t get any easier is unclear.
—Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2025
Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 24 Oct. 2025
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, CMT causes a range of sensory and motor symptoms, including numbness, tingling, pain, muscle weakness and atrophy — deterioration in cells, tissues, and organs.
—Diana Leyva, Nashville Tennessean, 24 Oct. 2025
On long flights, your legs tend to swell, leading to discomfort, cramping, and even numbness—but a good pair of compression leggings, like this pick from CompressionZ, can prevent those symptoms.
—Hillary Maglin, Travel + Leisure, 23 Oct. 2025
Yet according to Peck’s film, recognizing that reality can resemble Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece has led to numbness, rather than meaningful change.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2025
The numbness that started in my left hand quickly spread to more of the left side of my body.
—Michelle Maves, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
The star has been open about her symptoms, including numbness and tingling, before her diagnosis, and found comfort in finding a community.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 10 Oct. 2025
More serious cases may lead to weakness, numbness or speech difficulties.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Whether the numbness was because of the loss itself or due to the realization that the schedule won’t get any easier is unclear.
—Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for numbness
Noun
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In times of increasing cynicism and apathy in the zeitgeist, this phantasm extravaganza — at once humorously deadpan in its playful tableaus and poignantly sincere at its emotional core — feels like a breath of fresh air.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
21 Oct. 2025
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Fan apathy is showing up in the attendance figures at the Rose Bowl, and the athletic department’s financial problems have been piling up — the Bruins have been operating at a cumulative deficit of over $200 million over the last five years.—
Chris Vannini,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The heiress and journalist says her reasoning stems from the emptiness of taking, and the joy of giving.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
24 Oct. 2025
-
In between, there was a two-month gap of … emptiness at practices.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Those sacs of air fill with fluid or pus, causing a cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills and trouble breathing, according to the clinic.—
Rebecca Cohen,
NBC news,
16 Oct. 2025
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With just enough codeine to wash the phlegm away, Veeze folds slapstick one-liners into audacious flexes like origami.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Their works push back against the coldness of technology, asserting presence, autonomy, and creative resistance.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
24 Sep. 2025
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Thematically, this episode is awash in the color blue itself, which many fans interpret as symbolizing coldness and detachment from the music industry.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In the most common type of surgery, doctors aim to stabilize abnormal parts of the retina that can cause bleeding, swelling or detachment.—
Liz Szabo,
Scientific American,
14 Oct. 2025
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Now, the filmmaker’s latest effort shows characteristic daring in its detachment.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
11 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Numbness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/numbness. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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