definitions

deaden

[ ded-n ]
/ ˈdɛd n /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR deaden ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to make less sensitive, active, energetic, or forcible; weaken: to deaden sound; to deaden the senses; to deaden the force of a blow.
to lessen the velocity of; retard: to deaden the headway of a ship.
to make impervious to sound, as a floor.

verb (used without object)

to become dead.

RELATED WORDS

impair, desensitize, abate, mute, reduce, smother, cushion, soften, hush, stupefy, check, weaken, paralyze, depress, deprive, slow, tire, injure, damp, repress

Nearby words

dead-tree, deadbeat, deadbeat dad, deadbolt, deadboy, deaden, deadening, deadeye, deadfall, deadhead, deadlight

Origin of deaden

First recorded in 1655–65; dead + -en1
Related formsdead·en·er, nounun·dead·ened, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for deaden

British Dictionary definitions for deaden

deaden

/ (ˈdɛdən) /

verb

to make or become less sensitive, intense, lively, etc; damp or be damped down; dull
(tr) to make acoustically less resonanthe deadened the room with heavy curtains
Derived Formsdeadener, noundeadening, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for deaden

deaden

v.

1660s "deprive of or diminish (some quality)," from dead (adj.) + -en (1). Earlier the verb was simply dead. Related: Deadened; deadening.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper