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
Symptoms of the more serious illness include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis, according to the CDC.
—
Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 1 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.
—Staff Author, Travel + Leisure, 19 Sep. 2025
A lot of numbness to be perfectly honest.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
As the numbness wore off, the anger kicked in.
—Lonnie Van Horn, Health, 17 Sep. 2025
Symptoms include high anxiety, avoidance of reminders of the trauma, emotional numbness, hypervigilance, frequent intrusive memories of trauma, nightmares and flashbacks.
—Arash Javanbakht, The Conversation, 15 Sep. 2025
Same goes if it’s accompanied by other new-to-you symptoms—like numbness, weakness, tingling, fever, weight loss, or issues with bowel or bladder function, all of which can point to conditions that require medical care.
—Erica Sloan, SELF, 12 Sep. 2025
There’s still quite a bit of numbness in my foot and my thigh as well.
—Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 10 Sep. 2025
Another clue is pain or numbness at the site of the bite.
—Shiv Sudhakar, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2025
Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 1 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.
—Staff Author, Travel + Leisure, 19 Sep. 2025
A lot of numbness to be perfectly honest.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
As the numbness wore off, the anger kicked in.
—Lonnie Van Horn, Health, 17 Sep. 2025
Symptoms include high anxiety, avoidance of reminders of the trauma, emotional numbness, hypervigilance, frequent intrusive memories of trauma, nightmares and flashbacks.
—Arash Javanbakht, The Conversation, 15 Sep. 2025
Same goes if it’s accompanied by other new-to-you symptoms—like numbness, weakness, tingling, fever, weight loss, or issues with bowel or bladder function, all of which can point to conditions that require medical care.
—Erica Sloan, SELF, 12 Sep. 2025
There’s still quite a bit of numbness in my foot and my thigh as well.
—Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 10 Sep. 2025
Another clue is pain or numbness at the site of the bite.
—Shiv Sudhakar, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for numbness
Noun
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The floor spattered with boredom and apathy.—
Zuzana Říhová,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
-
Disengagement is rarely born out of mere apathy.—
Eyal Benishti,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The persistent emptiness of what might have been.—
Aisha Muharrar,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
2 Oct. 2025
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That’s because Horton’s emptiness is felt downtown wide.—
Jennifer Van Grove,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The second is having either 10 or more pack years of smoking, or symptoms of cough, phlegm and trouble breathing.—
Katia Hetter,
CNN Money,
28 Aug. 2025
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Diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease is made via chest X-ray, urine test and lab analysis of a phlegm sample.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
20 Aug. 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
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Within the clubhouse, players often analyze their performance with a sense of detachment more than urgency.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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But that ease can become dependence or even detachment from reality.—
Sonia Mankame,
Mercury News,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Numbness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/numbness. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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