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numbing

numbing

1 4.2
Makes someone unable to feel physically or emotionally
  • adjective
  • /ˈnʌmɪŋ/
translation icon : anestésico
  • The dentist applied a numbing gel to ease the pain before the procedure.

Don't waste all your time doing stuff that's just boring or bland or numbing, right?

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Examples

  • But often it's just a form of numbing that disassociates and disconnects you from you.

  • The white part is where the numbing injection was.

  • And I think people drink in order to feel something, but understand that it's just another form of really numbing yourself.

  • So it, it, it felt, it felt numb, like it had this wonderful numbing effect.

  • This is throat numbing spray, like if you have a sore throat, right?

  • That financial pressure was mind numbing and just getting out of bed was literally like climbing Mount Everest.

  • Don't waste all your time doing stuff that's just boring or bland or numbing, right?

  • I'm most excited about a red Sichuan peppercorn wing sauce I made that has a numbing sauce, a numbing effect in terms of its heat.

  • For anybody who doesn't know Szechuan, that's the famous tongue numbing spice from China.

  • After taking the pain medication, she experienced a numbing sensation in her arm.

Synonyms

anesthetic
vsnumbing
  • Specialized
1 5.7

Causing a loss of feeling, especially of pain

causes a loss of physical or emotional feeling and reaction
desensitizing
vsnumbing
6.8

Making a person feel less pain or fear

causes a fuller loss of feeling and an inability to react

Antonyms

9 4.4

Making you feel more energetic and alive

1 3.9

To make someone feel more awake and interested

Compounds

mind-numbing
  • Informal
14 6.5

So boring that you stop paying attention

How Numbing

to paralyzing
  • US
5.1
numbing
1 4.2
dulled
4.3

Surface Forms

numbing positive
numbinger comparative
numbest superlative

Morphology

numbing = numb (transparent) = numb + ing

The adjective is directly formed from the verb 'numb' with the participial/adjectival suffix '-ing', preserving the core meaning of causing lack of sensation.

Etymology

Numbing comes from the old English root numb, which meant 'without feeling' or 'stiff'. So something numbing either takes away physical feeling (like a cream or the cold) or stops your emotional reaction (like shocking news), because it makes you unable to feel or respond.