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Showing results for numbing. Search instead for Benumbing.
Synonyms

numbing

American  
[nuhm-ing] / ˈnʌm ɪŋ /

adjective

  1. causing numbness or insensibility; stupefying.

    the numbing effects of grief; a story repeated with numbing regularity.

Other Word Forms

  • numbingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of numbing

First recorded in 1625–35; numb + -ing 2

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.

When supplied in large quantities, they can have a numbing effect.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 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

In this way, truth-telling helps diminish psychic numbing.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024

At this point, they pop up with numbing regularity.

From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2024

He rubs a numbing ointment on one of the deeper cuts, keeping his attention fixed on my wounds.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

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.