stupefy
Americanverb (used with object)
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stupefies,
present (3rd person singular)
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stupefied,
past participle, past
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stupefying
present participle
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to put into a state of little or no sensibility; benumb the faculties of; put into a stupor.
-
to stun, as with a narcotic, a shock, or a strong emotion.
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to overwhelm with amazement; astound; astonish.
verb
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to render insensitive or lethargic
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to confuse or astound
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stupefysimple
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stupefiessimple
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have stupefiedperfect
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has stupefiedperfect
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am stupefyingprogressive
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are stupefyingprogressive
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is stupefyingprogressive
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have been stupefyingperfect progressive
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has been stupefyingperfect progressive
Past
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stupefiedsimple
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had stupefiedperfect
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was stupefyingprogressive
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were stupefyingprogressive
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had been stupefyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stupefy
1590–1600; < Middle French stupefier ≪ Latin stupefacere to benumb, equivalent to stupe-, stem of stupēre to be numb or stunned + facere to make, do 1; see -fy
Explanation
Don't be embarrassed if the magician's tricks stupefy you. It means you're amazed. Who doesn't want to be stopped in his tracks sometimes? Stupefy looks a lot like stupid. But intelligence has nothing to do with being stupefied, which comes from Latin and means "to make stunned." Anyone can be stupefied by something scary, mysterious, or just plain remarkable. Think of tourists visiting New York City for the first time. They stare up at the skyscrapers, lost in wonder. Taking that moment to let themselves be amazed? Nothing stupid about it, unless they step on someone's foot, of course.
Vocabulary lists containing stupefy
100 SAT words Beginning with "S"
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Aru Shah and the End of Time
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All the Bright Places
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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:
They stupefy in equal measure, the Shchukin and Morozov collections, yet the two Vuitton Foundation shows have radically different tones in their final acts.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2021
It’s about seeing Scarlett and Bradley and Cate and who will dazzle, who will stupefy, whose attempt at sartorial splendor — remember Angelina’s right leg?
From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2015
He puts the yawn into stultify, the stupefy into catatonia, stone-facedly delivering the exact same chords, licks, and nasal delivery for over three decades over a backbeat that would have lost the Boer War.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2012
These painted maps are images of power, designed to amaze and to stupefy.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 23, 2010
It is something so bright, loud, weird and delicate as to stupefy the senses.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
The increasingly bread-head and circus-like aspects of EDM have provoked a backlash from those who feel dance culture is swapping underground intimacy in favour of soul-less bombast that stuns and stupefies audiences into slack-jawed submission.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 2, 2012
With an inimitable style that 1988 Olympic champion Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland has called "art on skis," Miller frequently stupefies his rivals as he wins races while choosing improbable routes down a mountain.
From Chicago Tribune ● Feb. 18, 2011
In conclusion: sport may not inevitably coarsen, but in the particular form of society we have it undoubtedly stupefies.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 24, 2010
Pianist Garner still has more than his fair share of fingers, but their presence often stupefies rather than charms.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Tell me, Herr Timar, how could you get such a Moggor rose whose scent stupefies?"
From Timar's Two Worlds by Mór Jókai
After retiring from the ministry, I volunteered in local high schools and was stupefied by the lack of financial knowledge among students in the latter stages of their education.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026
When the 55-year-old New Jersey chiropractor looks at his current balance, he is stupefied.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2025
One month after One Day arrived on Netflix, Nicholls still seems somewhat stupefied by the reaction.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2024
Last August, when minor league baseball was still a thing, Victor González sat at his locker in the Oklahoma City Dodgers clubhouse a bit stupefied.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2020
In the first moments after they had recognized the poor creature under the hemlock, Hazel and Dandelion felt completely stupefied, as though they had come upon a squirrel underground or a stream that flowed uphill.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
And while I understand not wanting to give fashion gatekeepers the benefit of the doubt, it’s positively stupefying to me that anyone could read that and think, “This is a huge mistake.”
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
Together with the car’s Launch Control function, the Push-to-Pass feature unleashes stupefying acceleration—0-60 mph in 2.4 seconds, officially.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
When Callum McGregor eviscerated his own team-mates in the wake of Celtic's stupefying Champions League collapse against LASK, he delivered their one coherent moment of a spineless night.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
I was chosen to be in “Goodbye, Columbus,” and then everything exploded with the stupefying surprise of “Love Story” — this cost-nothing project nobody expected to be a success.
From New York Times ● May 22, 2024
Perhaps sensing that the conversation was moving from stupid to stupefying, Mini piped up.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
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.
