benumb
verb (used with object)
to make numb; deprive of sensation.
benumbed
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past participleof benumb.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof benumb.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
benumbverb (used with object)to make numb; deprive of sensation.
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.
Steinem spoke explicitly about pushing the women’s movement beyond its initial concerns—essentially, the benumbed, unfulfilled flourishing of white middle-class housewives like her own mother.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Its importance may have been underestimated by a benumbed Supreme Court press, understandably focused on what is likely to be the Court’s decision.
From Slate ● Dec. 19, 2022
As friends and neighbors watch in silent awe, confused, benumbed, the father lowers the launcher and stage-growls the absolutely unnecessary: “It’s a boy.”
From Washington Post ● May 13, 2021
In the course of her Zoom interview with the Guardian, she also claims to feel like one of the characters in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, benumbed by a constant stream of media stimulation.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 6, 2020
No longer feeling any cold in his legs and arms nor on his face, he thought that the frost had benumbed him.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
