stultify

American  

[stuhl-tuh-fahy] / ˈstʌl təˌfaɪ /

verb (used with object)

stultified, stultifying

1. to render absurdly or wholly futile or ineffectual, especially by degrading or frustrating means.

   Must we stultify the progress of these reforms with yet more red tape?

   Synonyms:

   thwart, negate, impede, frustrate, dull, deaden, benumb

2. Law. to allege or prove (oneself or another person) to be of unsound mind.

3. Older Use. to make, or cause to appear, foolish or ridiculous.

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verb (used without object)

stultified, stultifying

1. to become ineffectual or impaired, especially through frustrating, stifling, or deadening conditions.

   Without an environment of encouragement and creativity, the mind can stultify.

stultify British  

/ ˈstʌltɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to make useless, futile, or ineffectual, esp by routine

2. to cause to appear absurd or inconsistent

3. to prove (someone) to be of unsound mind and thus not legally responsible

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unstultifying
  adjective
• stultification
  noun
• stultifier
  noun
• unstultified
  adjective
• nonstultification
  noun
• stultifyingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of stultify

First recorded in 1760–70; from Late Latin stultificāre, equivalent to Latin stult(us) “stupid” + -i- -i- + -ficāre -fy

Explanation

When something stultifies you, it drains you of your energy, enthusiasm, or pleasure. Listening to an hour-long graduation speech on a hot, humid day might stultify you. The word stultify is sometimes used in place of to "bore" or "exhaust.” An uninspiring boss, too many rules, or a badly performed play can be stultifying. If you hang out in the hot sun all day, the stultifying heat might make you feel limp and listless. Even constant construction noise could stultify a person. To stultify a plan or person is to dampen enthusiasm in a big way.

Example Sentences

Not for Gardiner the pietistically devotional approach that can stultify.

From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2022

He puts the yawn into stultify, the stupefy into catatonia, stone-facedly delivering the exact same chords, licks, and nasal delivery for over three decades over a backbeat that would have lost the Boer War.

From Salon • Jul. 11, 2012

So when this cafeteria culture hits the big city, does the collision somehow stultify economic activity? Cities, after all, need people out on the sidewalks.

From New York Times • Jul. 2, 2011

The reason is the feeling in jazz that if you print something, if you write down the notes, you will stultify the music.

From The Guardian • Aug. 12, 2010

I said to myself that I would go away without giving you, after all, the chance to stultify yourself, the chance to exhibit clearly your insufferable and amazing conceit.

From Dorothy and other Italian Stories by Woolson, Constance Fenimore

Related Words

• benumb
• deaden
• dull