stultify

[stuhl-tuh-fahy]

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

2. cripple, impede, frustrate, hinder, thwart.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stultifying

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

Examples from the Web for stultifying

Contemporary Examples of stultifying

It began, for them all, with the urge to seek some form of liberty and escape the stultifying conventions of Regency England.
The Man Who Invented Vampires and the Creepiest Literary Gathering Ever
Emma Garman
November 24, 2013
The ubiquity of burgers (sliders and/or full-sizers) has been overwhelming, and stultifying.
Tacos Conquer the World
Jacquelynn D. Powers
October 6, 2010
Once he forgot recounting the past, out went the stultifying “obligations.”
Martin Amis' Sexual Revolution
Olivia Cole
May 10, 2010

Historical Examples of stultifying

For such is the stultifying effect of a civilized environment.
The Wreck of the Titan
Morgan Robertson
The Church is doing wrong, is stultifying herself in encouraging it.
The Inside of the Cup, Complete
Winston Churchill
Then she considered the weakness, the stultifying nature of her attempt at recall.
Two on a Tower
Thomas Hardy
What truly sensitive soul could exist in a stultifying atmosphere like this?
Once a Greech
Evelyn E. Smith
Mason felt that he was stultifying his country in condemning slavery.
Great Britain and the American Civil War
Ephraim Douglass Adams

British Dictionary definitions for stultifying

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 stultifying

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.