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:
"I felt like I had to be sad and I had to be emotionally numb in order to prove to her that I missed her."
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
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
My face felt stiff and numb, as though it had become scar tissue itself.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
“I’ve got a number of photos,” he said, “that show waves breaking over the top.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
After initially concentrating on small-scale renovations, DIY SOS shifted focus to tackle a number of more ambitious projects throughout its multiple-decade run.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
A growing number of women are saying that becoming a watch enthusiast has unlocked an unexpected workplace advantage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Manoa Duwai convinced his village in 2009 to create a protected area within their customary fishing grounds on Fiji's Coral Coast after concerns over the small number and size of fish he was catching.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
A name told him no more about where they belonged than, say, the number of teeth they had.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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
As Helena Fitzgerald wrote, "It is the kind of food that numbs pain and softens edges, turning a sharp and bitter world toward small, sense-based pleasures."
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2024
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
Rousseau’s disparagement of the English as “a nation of shopkeepers” persists as a belief that a concern with numbers and details numbs one to the big questions, to the grandeur of nature.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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
He might be a clout-seeking artist, or a symbol of numbed humanity?
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
The numbed stage: The only cease-fire is in the markets.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026
While precise counts of how many people numbed their buns through that double feature aren’t available, there’s no question that millions of us committed to the bit.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2025
She got her bucket of paraffin heated and dunked her hands into the hot wax while I numbed my nose with the anesthetic.
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
It’s both an explanation for her withdrawn demeanor and an indication of the permanent numbing that has enveloped her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
We all know the feeling of doom-scrolling, the mindless numbing of the brain.
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
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 awful situation highlights TV’s ability to unite its otherwise fractured audience, despite years of scripted and unscripted content numbing us to the worst acts people commit against one another.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
“I’m going to have to give you a shot of this numbing agent,” she says, holding up a syringe.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
