deaden

American  

[ded-n] / ˈdɛd 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 British  

/ 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
• deadening adjective
• undeadened adjective

Etymology

Origin of deaden

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

Example Sentences

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

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From Los Angeles Times

Not that anyone reading the signs needs to attempt to blunt or deaden anything.

From BBC

Related Words

• desensitize
• impair