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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

• deadener noun
• deadening adjective
• undeadened adjective

Etymology

Origin of deaden

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

Example Sentences

The Black Hawk helicopter was ready for take off – its rotor blades slicing through the air in the deadening heat of the Colombian Amazon.

From BBC

She then delivered a speech that denounced the notion of cultural appropriation and its deadening effects on literature.

From The Wall Street Journal

The flares instantly set fire to the surrounding acoustic foam panels, installed to deaden the sound.

From BBC

The decision still means joy or despair, but the virtual nature of acceptance and rejection, the evidence of no human hand, is a little deadening.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

Related Words

• desensitize
• impair