numbly
Americanadverb
-
without physical sensation or the ability to move.
It was a spicy dish, but it was kind of fun to bite into the peppers and wait numbly till I could use my mouth again!
-
in a way characterized by an inability to act or to feel emotion, as after a great shock or when severely depressed.
Exhausted and traumatized, she numbly watched as others ran to salvage what they could from the wreckage of the building.
Sometimes you can go through life asleep, lulled by the routine, pushing through numbly to the next thing.
Etymology
Origin of numbly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Numbly, we drift from topic to topic: borecore, Banana Bunkers, the “Rules” of the Internet, the blog for Denny’s diner.
From Slate • Apr. 27, 2015
Numbly, he kissed his wife and newborn son, became Convict 8356E, a lifer at Joliet.
From Time Magazine Archive
Numbly Joe went back to consulting other witches.
From Time Magazine Archive
Numbly, I take her elbow and help her back inside her own house.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
Numbly Harry thought of how the Dursleys had once shut him up, locked him away, kept him out of sight, all for the crime of being a wizard.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
