stultify

[stuhl-tuh-fahy]

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

Examples from the Web for stultify

We take from the metal before casting as much as we restore by polish afterwards, and thus we curse and stultify both sexes.
History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III (of III)|Various
He would not have condescended to stultify himself by the composition of such a bill.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III.|E. Farr and E. H. Nolan
All his life he—Laurence—had been liable to stultify himself by permitting his imagination to turn up in the wrong place.
The Gateless Barrier|Lucas Malet
Her knowledge was more profound than his, for she had never learned to stultify it with reasons.
Idolatry|Julian Hawthorne

The finest cutting machine unintelligently operated will stultify the best efforts of the printing plant.
Paper-Cutting Machines|Niel, Jr., Gray

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

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.

stultify

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

RELATED WORDS

Origin of stultify

Synonyms for stultify

Examples from the Web for stultify

stultify

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

Word Origin for stultify