Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for numbing. Search instead for Benumbing.
Synonyms

numbing

American  
[nuhm-ing] / ˈnʌm ɪŋ /

adjective

  1. causing numbness or insensibility; stupefying.

    the numbing effects of grief; a story repeated with numbing regularity.

Other Word Forms

  • numbingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of numbing

First recorded in 1625–35; numb + -ing 2

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.

This numbing and inescapable truth gives a unique urgency to Mr. Rosolie’s “Junglekeeper.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

But sometime over this last winter — that numbing, hoary stretch between mid-February and March — I decided this might be the year to reclaim a bit of seasonal delight.

From Salon • Oct. 7, 2025

"Is it, in fact, unhealthy and desensitising and numbing to feel joy when we're surrounded by so much suffering?" he asks.

From BBC • Sep. 1, 2025

At this point, they pop up with numbing regularity.

From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2024

“And if he persisted in his claims that he needed no numbing agent?”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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.