numbing

[nuhm-ing]

adjective

1. causing numbness or insensibility; stupefying.

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

Other Word Forms

• numbingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of numbing¹

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

Example Sentences

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

From BBC

Thus, the challenge of continuously documenting and sounding the alarm about how abnormal and dangerous the Age of Trump is while never normalizing it as being somehow quotidian, and therefore numbing.

From Salon

These nimble performers gamely rise to the occasion, but the comic adrenaline at this point has a numbing effect.

From Los Angeles Times

That sounds dramatic until you study the rise of fascism throughout history, which has always required a slow deadening, numbing and apathy in people.

From Los Angeles Times

That can produce psychic numbing, the inability or disinclination to feel, which can reach the point of immobilization.

From Salon

Related Words

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