deaden

[ded-n]

verb (used with object)

1. to make less sensitive, active, energetic, or forcible; weaken.

   to deaden sound; to deaden the senses; to deaden the force of a blow.

   Synonyms: dull, numb, lessen, diminish, blunt

2. to lessen the velocity of; retard.

   to deaden the headway of a ship.

3. to make impervious to sound, as a floor.

verb (used without object)

1. to become dead.

deaden

/ ˈdɛdən /

verb

1. to make or become less sensitive, intense, lively, etc; damp or be damped down; dull

2. (tr) to make acoustically less resonant

   he deadened the room with heavy curtains

Other Word Forms

• deadener noun
• undeadened adjective
• deadening adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of deaden¹

First recorded in 1655–65; dead + -en ¹

Example Sentences

They were trying to return from popular Emerald Bay to their west side home in midafternoon when eight-foot swells swamped the boat, deadening the engine and capsizing the vessel off rocky Rubicon Point near D.L.

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Repeatedly returning to themes of globalization and alienation, the 55-year-old director has meticulously chronicled his country’s uneasy plunge into the 21st century as rampant industrialization risks deadening those left behind.

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She was shot three times at close range, with a blanket wrapped around the gun to deaden the sound.

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That sounds dramatic until you study the rise of fascism throughout history, which has always required a slow deadening, numbing and apathy in people.

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And the shine from his latest gold medal hasn’t come close to deadening.

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Related Words

• desensitize 
• impair