numb
Americanadjective
-
number,
comparative
-
numbest
superlative
-
deprived of physical sensation or the ability to move.
fingers numb with cold.
-
manifesting or resembling numbness.
a numb sensation.
-
incapable of action or of feeling emotion; enervated; prostrate.
numb with grief.
-
lacking or deficient in emotion or feeling; indifferent.
She was numb to their pleas for mercy.
verb (used with object)
-
numbs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
numbed,
past participle, past
-
numbing
present participle
adjective
-
deprived of feeling through cold, shock, etc
-
unable to move; paralysed
-
characteristic of or resembling numbness
a numb sensation
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
numbsimple
-
numbssimple
-
have numbedperfect
-
has numbedperfect
-
am numbingprogressive
-
are numbingprogressive
-
is numbingprogressive
-
have been numbingperfect progressive
-
has been numbingperfect progressive
Past
-
numbedsimple
-
had numbedperfect
-
was numbingprogressive
-
were numbingprogressive
-
had been numbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of numb
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English nome, literally, “taken, seized,” variant of nomen, numen, Old English numen, past participle of niman “to take, steal”; cf. nim 1
Explanation
Numb is an adjective that describes a lack of sensation. After skiing all day, your toes might be numb from the cold. You'd feel numb for hours after hearing that your favorite band broke up. People can feel numb in terms of their feelings and emotions. For example, if you've had your heart broken lots of times, you start to become numb — the breakups don't upset you so much. Numb can also describe being so frightened that you can't move, like being numb with fear when you saw the bear near your campsite. Numb can also mean "to make insensitive," like when the dentist numbs your gums so you won't feel any pain.
Vocabulary lists containing numb
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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Lesson 1
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The Circuit
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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.
See Examples For:
Maybe an hour later, my legs nearly numb, I heard a woman’s voice say, “I can’t look at him like that anymore.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
When people are more dissociated, “they may describe feeling numb, being on ‘autopilot,’ ” Brand says.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
At this point most of us are numb to the dystopian possibilities.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
John’s left arm had atrophied, his hand now basically a claw, and two of his fingers were numb.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Also, there were barely any rests, so once it started, you were playing until your lips were numb and your lungs collapsed.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
Galindo says he concludes from the data available that there is not a notable accumulation of property to rent among a small number of owners in Spain.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
The city authorities, he said, faced a "very difficult" task with "limited time, limited funding, a limited number of workers."
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
By doing that, economists can see the actual number of claims filed each week in the states and territories.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
In July, Sharma shared plans to cut about 20% of Xbox’s staff, and trim the number of games it makes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“So I decided that you’d be okay with me passing Libby your number to pass to Rhys.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
So perhaps it’s fitting that the most recent addition to this sad subgenre is the numbest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2025
“It might be that we’re killing it, or that’s it’s slowly dying because we’re reducing it to its numbest form, but I don’t think that has to be,” she said.
From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2019
Relationships falter because videogames get in the way, and life dissolves into a virtual reality that numbs the pain meant to drive our growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
The native of Puebla, Mexico, suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis, which sometimes numbs the joints in his hands, making it difficult to work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2023
Director Peyton Reed’s effort often numbs and overwhelms with too-flashy effects, an abundance of characters and head-shaking, multi-army battles that will require frame-by-frame analysis to ever possibly appreciate the visual complexities.
From Washington Times ● May 17, 2023
"In this city, negative temptations and uncertainty are a part of everyday life. When I jump in the ring, it numbs the pain and takes me away from the troubles around me."
From BBC ● May 16, 2023
I persist, dunking them for longer and longer periods, until the cold finally numbs my blisters.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Damon’s Odysseus is numbed by the massacre of Troy’s civilians; Fiennes’ hates himself for leading the best men of Ithaca to their death, gutting his own community in the heedless destruction of another.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Some contend that numbed investors to the threat, keeping yields and borrowing costs lower than they should have been.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
In his sermon during Saturday night's Easter vigil, the pontiff urged believers not to feel numbed by the scale of global conflicts but to work actively for reconciliation.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2026
The numbed stage: The only cease-fire is in the markets.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026
The coldness numbed her fingers, and she could hardly even feel him.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
The numbing lidocaine was injected first and sprayed down my windpipe, making me feel as if I were drowning.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2026
This is unfortunate, and not just because it affects the viewing experience, which is as numbing as a winter at Fort Ticonderoga.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
But sometime over this last winter — that numbing, hoary stretch between mid-February and March — I decided this might be the year to reclaim a bit of seasonal delight.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2025
"Is it, in fact, unhealthy and desensitising and numbing to feel joy when we're surrounded by so much suffering?" he asks.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2025
Shooting down my arms, numbing my fingers and toes.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
