numbly

[ nuhm-lee ]

adverb

1. without physical sensation or the ability to move:

   It was a spicy dish, but it was kind of fun to bite into the peppers and wait numbly till I could use my mouth again!

2. in a way characterized by an inability to act or to feel emotion, as after a great shock or when severely depressed:

   Exhausted and traumatized, she numbly watched as others ran to salvage what they could from the wreckage of the building.

   Sometimes you can go through life asleep, lulled by the routine, pushing through numbly to the next thing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of numbly¹

numb ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

For here lie children numbly bearing witness to the latest food crisis to ravage northern Ethiopia.

From BBC

Dr. Samer al-Sheikh stared numbly at the photograph of himself on his phone.

From New York Times

It’s a form of psychological avoidance, as they look on at our uniquely American horror show, one gun barrage in chain reaction after another, numbly doing nothing.

From Seattle Times

But after that stale and lifeless performance, most of them just sat there numbly, repeating their talking points from earlier in the day.

From Salon

“I hate insulin needles, I hate the smell of insulin. I just want this disease to go away,” Mr. Romero, 48, says numbly at one point in the film.

From New York Times