to stultify
1
9.8
- verb
- /ˈstʌltɪˌfaɪ/
- Formal
:
desalentar
- Second, requiring full criminal probable cause whenever an agent suspects violations would stultify enforcement of administrative regulations.
Examples
-
Visible Castilian became a symbol of the repression imposed by a stultifying authoritarian system that sought to extinguish Catalan as a vernacular.
Academic text (2003) -
If we embrace free trade and escape the stultifying restrictions of EU over-regulation, there’s the potential for an extraordinary economic renaissance.
-
For all that, it tends to stultify human nature.
Academic text (1996) -
Take a look at Europe; the debt crisis there is stultifying governments throughout the EU.
Blog text (11) -
Requiring criminal probable cause for environmental inspections that fulfill a valid administrative purpose would stultify the enforcement of environmental regulations.
Academic text (1990) -
Economic decline and stultifying political repression have badly fractured the societal realm in many states.
Academic text (1992) -
Not only do education and literacy in practice fail to "balance the wheel of social machinery," as Mann suggested, but they actually constitute the engine that stultifies change and hinders revolt.
Academic text (2002) -
The project to develop a nondual framework that moves beyond a stultifying Cartesianism is most promising, and it is the last chapter of the book that should be the locus of that project's emergence.
Academic text (2016) -
The sterile neighborhood represents nearly the full extent of life for the Burnham family, aside from stultifying work, clique-driven school, and a dissatisfying family life inside the home.
Academic text (2002) -
The constant micromanagement from her supervisor began to stultify her creativity at work.
Synonyms
305
2.8
To make people and things less strong or effective
72
6.3
To cause serious harm that makes a person or thing unable to work properly
61
5.1
To make something worse or less able to work
39
5.6
To stop an action or effect by acting against it
33
6.1
To make someone lose confidence or hope
27
4.1
Slowly make a person or thing weaker by repeated pressure
23
6.8
To become less strong or severe and to make something do the same
20
4.6
To make someone feel less confident or important
20
7.7
To make a person, animal, or thing weak and less able to work
16
4.4
Make something less strong or noticeable, for example sound and feeling
14
5.6
To slowly make someone or something weaker
12
6.8
To make something lose its effect or value
11
7.8
Completely stop protests or criticism
11
5.8
Make something less fun or exciting
10
8.8
To make something weaker or less effective
10
9.1
To take away an important part so something loses its power
9
7.9
To make something weaker, like sound or light
9
7.9
To make someone unable to think or react after a very strong shock
7
8.8
To take away the power of something so it cannot work well
7
6.1
To stop a feeling or action completely
5
5.7
Reduce the strength of feelings or public anger
4
9.4
Make people or groups unable to think clearly and work well
3
5.5
To make a feeling, sound, or pain less strong
2
9.9
Make a contract or decision not valid by law
2
9.0
Make someone feel weak and without energy
2
4.9
Make someone feel less happy and excited
1
9.9
To make people or forces fewer and weaker by slow, steady pressure
1
4.8
Make someone feel very weak and tired
1
9.9
To make something weak by taking away what it needs
To slowly take away energy and interest from people
To make a place or group less lively and energetic
To stop someone from gaining power or success
Make a person or group less likely to act
Antonyms
How Demotivating
- US
266
5.3
87
3.5
- Formal
1
9.8
33
6.1
257
3.5
16
4.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
stultify = stult + ify
The verb is formed with the combining form 'stult-' (not a standalone English word) + the productive suffix '-ify'; because the base form is not recognizable to typical learners, the meaning is not transparently derived from familiar English vocabulary.
Etymology
The word stultify comes from the Latin stultus meaning 'foolish' and the ending -fy meaning 'to make'. So it also came to mean 'make useless' or to take away energy and the ability to work well, which is why rules or constant criticism can stultify a person or a company.