- present participle of deaden.
deadening
Americannoun
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a device or material employed to deaden or render dull.
-
a device or material preventing the transmission of sound.
-
a woodland in which the trees are killed by girdling prior to being cleared.
Etymology
Origin of deadening
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.
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 ● Feb. 3, 2026
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 ● Jan. 16, 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
I’m reluctant to embrace that particular stay-in-your-lane logic, which is ultimately deadening to the cause of art and empathy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2023
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
