'Deadening' definitions:
Definition of 'deadening'
(from WordNet)
adjective
So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the deadening effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play"; "his competent but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention"; "what an irksome task the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke; "tedious days on the train"; "the tiresome chirping of a cricket"- Mark Twain; "other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome" [syn: boring, deadening, dull, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome]
noun
The act of making something futile and useless (as by routine) [syn: stultification, constipation, impairment, deadening]
Definition of 'Deadening'
From: GCIDE
- Deaden \Dead"en\ (d[e^]d"'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deadened (d[e^]d"'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Deadening.] [From Dead; cf. AS. d?dan to kill, put to death. See Dead, a.]
- 1. To make as dead; to impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation; to lessen the force or acuteness of; to blunt; as, to deaden the natural powers or feelings; to deaden a sound. [1913 Webster]
- As harper lays his open palm Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To lessen the velocity or momentum of; to retard; as, to deaden a ship's headway. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To make vapid or spiritless; as, to deaden wine. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To deprive of gloss or brilliancy; to obscure; as, to deaden gilding by a coat of size. [1913 Webster]
- 5. To render impervious to sound, as a wall or floor; to deafen. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Definition of 'deadening'
From: GCIDE
- deadening \dead"en*ing\ adj. [p. pr. of verb deaden[3].] Rendering less lively, intense, or vigorous; as, the deadening effect of some routine tasks. [WordNet 1.5]
- 2. So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; as, the deadening effect of some routine tasks.
- Syn: boring, dreary, ho-hum, irksome, tedious, tiresome, wearisome. [WordNet 1.5]
Definition of 'deadening'
From: GCIDE
- deadening \dead"en*ing\ n. The act of making something futile and useless (as by routine).
- Syn: stultification, impairment. [WordNet 1.5]
Synonyms of 'deadening'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abatement,
- abating,
- allaying,
- allayment,
- alleviating,
- alleviation,
- alleviative,
- analgesia,
- analgesic,
- anesthesia,
- anesthetic,
- anesthetizing,
- anodyne,
- appeasement,
- assuagement,
- assuaging,
- assuasive,
- attenuation,
- attrition,
- balmy,
- balsamic,
- benumbing,
- blunting,
- calming,
- cathartic,
- chastening,
- cleansing,
- cushioning,
- dampening,
- damping,
- debilitation,
- demulcent,
- demulsion,
- devitalization,
- dilution,
- diminishing,
- diminishment,
- diminution,
- dulcification,
- dulling,
- ease,
- easement,
- easing,
- effemination,
- emollient,
- enervation,
- enfeeblement,
- evisceration,
- exhaustion,
- extenuation,
- falling-off,
- fatigue,
- hushing,
- inanition,
- languishment,
- leniency,
- lenitive,
- lessening,
- letdown,
- letup,
- lightening,
- loosening,
- lulling,
- mitigating,
- mitigation,
- mitigative,
- modulation,
- mollification,
- narcotic,
- numbing,
- pacification,
- pain-killing,
- palliation,
- palliative,
- purgative,
- quietening,
- quieting,
- reducing,
- reduction,
- relaxation,
- relaxing,
- relief,
- relieving,
- remedial,
- remedy,
- remission,
- salving,
- slackening,
- softening,
- soothing,
- stunning,
- stupefying,
- subduement,
- subduing,
- tempering,
- thinning,
- tranquilization,
- weakening