: to make (someone) unable to think, feel, or react normally
But there is no humor in Natural Born Killers. It is a relentlessly bloody story designed to shock us and to numb us further to the senselessness of reckless murder. Michael Shnayerson
In her last book, Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag disputes the notion that viewers are numbed by an onslaught of photographed calamities. Dennis Lim
But Madame Melmotte was neither crushed by grief nor did she affect to be so crushed. She had been numbed by the suddenness and by the awe of the catastrophe. Anthony Trolloppe
Adjective The side of my face was still numb an hour after the surgery. I had a numb feeling in my toes. It was so cold that my fingers went numb. A stroke can cause one side of your body to go numb. Her son had died and she just felt numb. He stood there numb with fear. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Patrick and Engelbert roam the USSR professing wonderment but feeling nothing, alive to experiences but numb to experience, dead inside—and eventually just plain dead. Aaron Timms, The New Republic, 2 Sep. 2022 The field goes numb, essentially, as the beneficial microbiome shorts out. Matt Simon, WIRED, 30 Aug. 2022 In a recent interview with TODAY, the 38-year-old — known famously on the social media platform as iJustine — revealed that her arm went numb, swelled up and turned purple during the last week of March. Vanessa Etienne, Peoplemag, 29 Aug. 2022 Her voice, as impassive as her face, conveys the numb disbelief of the brokenhearted. Martin Kuz, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Aug. 2022 Once the lips are numb, the actual injecting, which consists of the provider using a small, thin needle to inject the filler into various parts of the lips, usually lasts about 5-10 minutes. Lauren Valenti, Vogue, 17 Aug. 2022 Her anxiety spiked, her heart thumped out of her chest, and her left arm went numb. Stephen Noonoo, The New Republic, 2 May 2022 But as time has gone on, the mind starts to become numb and depression sets in; people have realized that the multitude of people challenging one through their day is an essential jolt to stay in the present. Cathrine Todd, Forbes, 13 Aug. 2022 But the alarms are already sounding and if anything the country is going numb to them. Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 12 July 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English nomen, from past participle of nimen to take — more at nim