deaden
Americanverb (used with object)
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deadens,
present (3rd person singular)
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deadened,
past participle, past
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deadening
present participle
verb (used without object)
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deadens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deadened,
past participle, past
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deadening
present participle
verb
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to make or become less sensitive, intense, lively, etc; damp or be damped down; dull
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(tr) to make acoustically less resonant
he deadened the room with heavy curtains
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deadensimple
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deadenssimple
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have deadenedperfect
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has deadenedperfect
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am deadeningprogressive
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are deadeningprogressive
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is deadeningprogressive
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have been deadeningperfect progressive
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has been deadeningperfect progressive
Past
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deadenedsimple
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had deadenedperfect
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was deadeningprogressive
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were deadeningprogressive
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had been deadeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deaden
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.
See Examples For:
“We’d put these special blankets up on the walls to deaden the sound for shooting and it was quiet.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
The flares instantly set fire to the surrounding acoustic foam panels, installed to deaden the sound.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2026
The biggest is the ball and the size of the stitches, Nathan said, and MLB made slight adjustments to deaden the ball prior to the 2021 season.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
I’m to the point of considering bringing in a speaker to deaden their noise or broadcast an offensive podcast at them.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 20, 2023
I shake my hand to deaden the pain.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
“I’ve developed life-long friends on Twitter. I think it’s really sad that to get that human connection I’m going to have to deal with harassment again that damages and deadens your humanity.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2022
This tough base deadens the sound as the glass hits a table, improves grip and protects the vessel from smashing if you drop it.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 15, 2020
Lyndall Gordon’s endured a “boredom that deadens the air around my father”.
From Economist ● Apr. 19, 2018
Counting it no doubt palliates if not deadens any reservations.
From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2017
I find myself pawing at my left ear periodically, trying to clean away whatever deadens its ability to collect sounds.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
For others, stop-start has deadened the joy of driving.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
It’s pleasant to type on, thanks to each key’s even and clear sound signature, lacking ping or hollowness — though some may find it overly deadened.
From The Verge ● Aug. 30, 2022
Some in baseball believe the ball has somehow been deadened, muting scoring and offensive statistics across the league.
From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2022
Nothing but fancy hotels, voices deadened by plush carpeting and marble, and the endless pas de deux between me and the polite server just to get the damn drink from her tray to my lips.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2019
That would have been much better than what they were now, deadened to themselves and to the world around them.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
It’s hard to know from his palette what thrills him, or if he sees colors at all, given the film’s muddy, deadening grayscape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
She then delivered a speech that denounced the notion of cultural appropriation and its deadening effects on literature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
Likewise, many well-known geniuses like Billy Wilder, Otto Preminger and Fritz Lang, who were chased out of Europe by the Nazis, brilliantly exposed the hypocrisies and soul deadening conformity of mainstream American culture.
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2026
If You're Glad I'll Be Frank imagined the speaking clock as a real woman speaking live, her internal monologue utterly at odds with the deadening repetitiveness of endlessly intoning "at the third stroke..."
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
Where students are most in need of help is where the most stripped-down, deadening material is put in front of them.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
