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stultify

[stuhl-tuh-fahy]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stultify ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), stul·ti·fied, stul·ti·fy·ing.

to make, or cause to appear, foolish or ridiculous.
to render absurdly or wholly futile or ineffectual, especially by degrading or frustrating means: Menial work can stultify the mind.
Law. to allege or prove (oneself or another) to be of unsound mind.

Origin of stultify

1760–70; < Late Latin stultificāre, equivalent to Latin stult(us) stupid + -i- -i- + -ficāre -fy
Related formsstul·ti·fi·ca·tion, nounstul·ti·fi·er, nounstul·ti·fy·ing·ly, adverbnon·stul·ti·fi·ca·tion, nounun·stul·ti·fied, adjectiveun·stul·ti·fy·ing, adjective

Synonyms for stultify

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stultify ON THESAURUS.COM
2. cripple, impede, frustrate, hinder, thwart.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stultify

mock, hinder, prevent, smother, cripple, suffocate, negate, stifle, nullify, impair, inhibit, ridiculous

Examples from the Web for stultify

Historical Examples of stultify

  • But what the privileged orders can no longer prevent, they are determined to stultify.

    Scaramouche

    Rafael Sabatini

  • I pointed out that time might stultify this selection of a title.

    Scally

    Ian Hay

  • Providence does not comply with our predictions in order to stultify us.

  • Have I ever done anything to stultify, degrade you, or impair your self-respect?

    Asiatic Breezes

    Oliver Optic

  • Why, it does not run counter to its own sense of taste, or stultify itself.

British Dictionary definitions for stultify

stultify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)

to make useless, futile, or ineffectual, esp by routine
to cause to appear absurd or inconsistent
to prove (someone) to be of unsound mind and thus not legally responsible
Derived Formsstultification, nounstultifier, noun

Word Origin for stultify

C18: from Latin stultus stupid + facere to make
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 stultify
v.

1766, "allege to be of unsound mind" (legal term), from Late Latin stultificare "turn into foolishness," from Latin stultus "foolish" + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). The first element is cognate with Latin stolidus "slow, dull, obtuse" (see stolid). Meaning "cause to appear foolish or absurd" is from 1809.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper