leaden

American  

[led-n] / ˈlɛd n /

adjective

1. inertly heavy like lead; hard to lift or move.

   a leaden weight; leaden feet.

2. dull, spiritless, or gloomy, as in mood or thought.

   leaden prose; a leaden atmosphere.

3. of a dull gray color.

   leaden skies.

4. oppressive; heavy.

   a leaden silence.

5. sluggish; listless.

   They moved at a leaden pace.

6. of poor quality or little value.

7. made or consisting of lead.

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verb (used with object)

1. to make leaden, sluggish, dull, etc..

   Fatigue had leadened his brain and step.

leaden British  

/ ˈlɛdən /

adjective

1. heavy and inert

2. laboured or sluggish

   leaden steps

3. gloomy, spiritless, or lifeless

4. made partly or wholly of lead

5. of a dull greyish colour

   a leaden sky

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Other Word Forms

• leadenly adverb
• leadenness noun

Etymology

Origin of leaden

before 1000; Middle English leden, Old English lēaden. See lead ², -en ²

Example Sentences

Their intended audience includes national security bureaucrats in the U.S. and abroad and the think-tankers and journalists obliged by a sense of professional responsibility to at least scan these generally leaden, cliché-ridden products of groupthink.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025

All this after Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to field under a leaden sky.

From BBC • May 22, 2025

But Eggers abandons this tack and steers back toward leaden homage.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 24, 2024

Why not spend it making a cozy home, tending a little garden, shutting out the leaden horrors outside?

From Salon • Dec. 8, 2024

It was his business to stick the leaden seals on papal bulls, and, so as to preserve the Secrecy of the Pope, they used to make sure that he could not read a won!

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Related Words

• ponderous
• weighty