Synonyms

deaden

American

[ded-n] / ˈdɛd n /

verb (used with object)

to make less sensitive, active, energetic, or forcible; weaken.

to deaden sound; to deaden the senses; to deaden the force of a blow.

Synonyms:

dull, numb, lessen, diminish, blunt
to lessen the velocity of; retard.

to deaden the headway of a ship.
to make impervious to sound, as a floor.

verb (used without object)

to become dead.

deaden British

/ ˈdɛdən /

verb

to make or become less sensitive, intense, lively, etc; damp or be damped down; dull
(tr) to make acoustically less resonant

he deadened the room with heavy curtains

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

deadener noun
deadening adjective
undeadened adjective

Etymology

Origin of deaden

First recorded in 1655–65; dead + -en ¹

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.

The evening signaled that this is not the type of show that will deaden an artist behind glass vitrines.

From Los Angeles Times

The Black Hawk helicopter was ready for take off – its rotor blades slicing through the air in the deadening heat of the Colombian Amazon.

From BBC

She then delivered a speech that denounced the notion of cultural appropriation and its deadening effects on literature.

From The Wall Street Journal

The flares instantly set fire to the surrounding acoustic foam panels, installed to deaden the sound.

From BBC

The decision still means joy or despair, but the virtual nature of acceptance and rejection, the evidence of no human hand, is a little deadening.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023