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
Other symptoms include numbness, tingling, or burning around the site of injury.
—
Jakob Roze, Health, 4 Nov. 2025
For those of us privileged to be at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday, and surely to many of the millions who watched from afar, the numbness from Game 7 has not worn off.
—Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Soon, the sensation of numbness spread up the entire left side of my body.
—Lucinda Rosenfeld, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
The patient presented with localized problems with brain or nerve function, such as weakness, numbness, trouble speaking, or loss of coordination in a specific part of the body, rather than a general symptom like headache or dizziness.
—New Atlas, 25 Oct. 2025
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
Jakob Roze, Health, 4 Nov. 2025
For those of us privileged to be at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday, and surely to many of the millions who watched from afar, the numbness from Game 7 has not worn off.
—Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Soon, the sensation of numbness spread up the entire left side of my body.
—Lucinda Rosenfeld, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
The patient presented with localized problems with brain or nerve function, such as weakness, numbness, trouble speaking, or loss of coordination in a specific part of the body, rather than a general symptom like headache or dizziness.
—New Atlas, 25 Oct. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for numbness
Noun
-
Unfortunately for her, apathy doesn't appear to be part of the recipe for a long and successful career at PTMC.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
8 Jan. 2026
-
After months of apathy and doubt, optimism is suddenly abundant.—
Paul Tenorio,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The boy jerks his head as if to wake himself, turns around abruptly and looks the other way, even though there’s nothing special to see besides darkness and emptiness, which is where a living eye should never look.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Grogan isn’t alone in feeling the emptiness that can follow a massive milestone.—
Orianna Rosa Royle,
Fortune,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
Large roof windows maximize natural light, and the interior decor makes use of coated plywood and glass to offset the coldness of the concrete.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
12 Dec. 2025
-
However, colors can also pull out negative emotions in people, such as defiance (red), coldness (blue), fear (yellow), and boredom (green).—
Daniel Fusch,
Ascend Agency,
11 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The woman reflected on her husband’s emotional detachment, explaining that his father had been abusive and that his death had brought relief rather than grief.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
26 Dec. 2025
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Bébé’s rejection of her child and her emotional detachment are a common response, according to doctors, who describe not just a disconnect by rape survivors to their children but even efforts by some women to harm babies born of the attacks.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
12 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Numbness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/numbness. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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