Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for leaden on Thesaurus.com inertly heavy like lead ; hard to lift or move: a leaden weight; leaden feet. dull, spiritless, or gloomy, as in mood or thought: leaden prose; a leaden atmosphere. of a dull gray color: leaden skies. oppressive; heavy: a leaden silence. sluggish; listless: They moved at a leaden pace. of poor quality or little value. made or consisting of lead . Show More
to make leaden, sluggish, dull, etc.: Fatigue had leadened his brain and step. Show More
Origin of leaden before 1000; Middle English leden, Old English lēaden. See
lead2 ,
-en2 Related forms lead·en·ly , adverb lead·en·ness , noun Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for leaden weighty ,
ponderous ,
listless ,
lead ,
galena ,
pewter ,
plumbic ,
plumbiferous ,
plumbous ,
burdensome ,
depressed ,
oppressive ,
ashen ,
drab ,
dull ,
gray ,
pale ,
downcast ,
dreary ,
gloomy Examples from the Web for leaden Contemporary Examples of leaden Technically, White should seem out of step with our current pop-centric culture: leaden , irrelevant, dinosauric.
That there was a way to tell the story and not have been leaden —not be a chore or an ordeal.
The Romney-Ryan Medicare proposal is stunningly unpopular—and Romney left the debate firmly lashed to its leaden weight.
Historical Examples of leaden As they approached it, the dull hue that lay upon it resembled that of the leaden sky.
Now the minutes dragged with leaden feet until Dick should come.
The sky was dull and leaden , and cindery flakes of snow were thinly falling.
In the meantime the sun had retired behind thick, leaden clouds.
God's wrath comes with leaden feet, but it strikes with iron hands.
British Dictionary definitions for leaden heavy and inert laboured or sluggish leaden steps gloomy, spiritless, or lifeless made partly or wholly of lead of a dull greyish colour a leaden sky Show More
Derived Forms leadenly , adverb leadenness , noun 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 leaden adj. "made of lead," Old English leaden , from lead (n.1) + -en (2). The figurative sense of "heavy, oppressive, dull" is attested by 1570s. Related: Leadenly ; leadenness .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
