numb

numb

English

Etymology

From the past participle of nim (“to take”). Compare German benommen (“dazed, numb”). The final ⟨b⟩ is a later addition to the spelling; it was never pronounced, and did not appear in the original word.

Pronunciation

• enPR: nŭm, IPA^(key): /nʌm/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌm

Adjective

numb (comparative number, superlative numbest)

1. Physically unable to feel, not having the power of sensation.

   fingers numb with cold

   legs numb from kneeling

   Synonyms: deadened, insensible

2. Emotionally unable to feel or respond in a normal way.

   numb with shock; numb with boredom

   • 1915, Nellie McClung, In Times Like These, Toronto: McLeod & Allen, Chapter 2,

     […] when we know that hundreds are rendered homeless every day, and countless thousands are killed and wounded, men and boys mowed down like a field of grain, and with as little compunction, we grow a little bit numb to human misery.

   • 1966, Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, New York: Modern Library, 1992, Part One, p. 77,

     […] seeing the dog—somehow that made me feel again. I’d been too dazed, too numb, to feel the full viciousness of it.

   • 2016, Julian Barnes, The Noise of Time, Random House Canada, Part Three,

     […] he submitted […] as a traitor, his mind numb with vodka, submits to a firing squad.

   Synonym: stunned

3. (obsolete) Causing numbness.
   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:

     […] he did lap me
     Even in his own garments, and gave himself,
     All thin and naked to the numb cold night.

Antonyms

• sensible, sensitive

Derived terms

• benumb
• numbly
• numbness
• numbnuts

 

Related terms

• numskull

Translations

physically unable to feel

Arabic: خَدِر‎ (ḵadir) Moroccan Arabic: منمل‎ (mnammal) Armenian: թմրած (hy) (tʿmrac), անզգա (hy) (anzga), ընդարմացած (əndarmacʿac) Bulgarian: вцепенен (bg) (vcepenen) Chinese: Mandarin: 麻木 (zh) (mámù) Czech: necitlivý Dutch: verdoofd (nl), bewusteloos (nl), verstijfd (nl), verkleumd (nl) Esperanto: sensenta Finnish: puutunut (fi), tunnoton (fi), turta (fi) French: gourd (fr), engourdi (fr) Georgian: გაშეშებული (gašešebuli), გაფიჩხებული (gapičxebuli) German: taub (de), benommen (de), betäubt (de), gefühllos (de), starr (de) Greek: ναρκωμένος (el) (narkoménos) Ancient: ἀναίσθητος (anaísthētos) Hebrew: רדום‎ (radúm) (slang), נרדם‎ (nirdám) (slang) Hungarian: dermedt (hu), zsibbadt (hu), meggémberedett, kábult (hu), eltompult (hu) Hunsrik: daab Icelandic: dofinn Italian: intorpidito (it) Japanese: 無感覚な (mukankaku na) Khmer: ស្រយង់ (km) (srɑyɑŋ), ស្គឹះ (km) (skɨh), សំទក់ (km) (sɑmtʊək) Korean: 마비되는 (mabidoeneun) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: سِڕ‎ (ku) (sirr) Latin: torpidus, torpēns Latvian: nejutīgs, stings, stīvs Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Maori: kōpā, matangerengere, matangurunguru, kerekerewai, kēkerewai, matakerekere, pōpokorua (with cold and wet conditions), mangenge (from cold), tēteka Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Norman: gourd (Jersey) Norwegian: Bokmål: nummen Persian: بیحس‎ (fa), کرخ‎ (fa) (kerex) Polish: odrętwiały Portuguese: amortecido, entorpecido Romanian: amorțit (ro) Russian: онеме́лый (ru) (onemélyj) Spanish: entumecido (es), entumido (es) (by cold), insensible (es), entorpecido (es), dormido (es) (by lack of blood circulation), adormecido (es) (by drugs) Swahili: please add this translation if you can Swedish: valen (sv), domnad (sv) Tagalog: manhid Thai: ชา (th) (chaa) Turkish: uyuşuk (tr) Ukrainian: занімі́лий (zanimílyj) Vietnamese: tê (vi), tê cóng

emotionally unable to feel

Czech: ochromený Finnish: lamaantunut, turta (fi) German: gefühllos (de), unempfindlich (de) Maori: rōrā, paraheahea Vietnamese: vô cảm (vi), chết lặng

Verb

numb (third-person singular simple present numbs, present participle numbing, simple past and past participle numbed)

1. (transitive) To cause to become numb (physically or emotionally).

   The dentist gave me novocaine to numb my tooth before drilling, thank goodness.

   When I first heard the news, I was numbed by the shock.

   • 2020 April 22, “Letters: Open Access: Not easy for laptops”, in Rail, page 31:

     But her main concern is the hard seating that numbs the nether regions.

   Synonym: benumb

2. (transitive) To cause (a feeling) to be less intense.

   He turned to alcohol to numb his pain.

   • 1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, “The Grey Woman” in The Grey Woman and Other Tales, London: Smith, Elder & Co.,

     [I was] thankful for the pain, which helped to numb my terror.

   Synonym: dull

3. (transitive) To cause (the mind, faculties, etc.) to be less acute.
   • 1912, Saki, “The Hounds of Fate” in The Chronicles of Clovis, London: John Lane, p. 219,

     […] hunger, fatigue, and despairing hopelessness had numbed his brain […]

   • 1927, Hugh Lofting, Doctor Dolittle’s Garden, Part Four, Chapter 6,

     The noise, the rush of air past our ears, was positively terrific. It actually seemed to numb the senses and make it almost impossible to take in impressions at all.

   • 2004, Cory Doctorow, Eastern Standard Tribe, Chapter 13,

     [The sofa] exhaled a breath of trapped ancient farts, barf-smell, and antiseptic, the parfum de asylum that gradually numbed my nose to all other scents on the ward.

   Synonym: dull

4. (intransitive) To become numb (especially physically).
   • 1918, Lewis R. Freeman, Many Fronts, London: John Murray, “Wonders of the Teleferica,” p. 270,

     […] after fumbling with numbing fingers for ten or fifteen minutes, he waved his hand with a gesture of despair […]

   • 1919, Arthur Murray Chisholm, The Land of Strong Men, New York: H.K. Fly, Chapter 18,

     […] once more his feet began to numb. Again he got down and stamped the circulation going, but as soon as he began to ride again they numbed.

Derived terms

• mind-numbing

Translations

to cause to become numb

Bulgarian: вцепенявам (bg) (vcepenjavam), вкочанясвам (bg) (vkočanjasvam) Czech: otupit (cs) pf, znecitlivit pf, ochromit (cs) pf Dutch: verdoven (nl), in slaap doen Finnish: puuduttaa (fi), turruttaa (fi); lamauttaa (fi) (emotionally); kohmettaa (by cold) French: engourdir (fr), endormir (fr), anesthésier (fr) German: betäuben (de) Greek: Ancient: ναρκόω (narkóō) Romanian: amorți (ro), anestezia (ro) Swedish: bedöva (sv)

to cause (a feeling) to be less intense

Finnish: puuduttaa (fi), turruttaa (fi), tukahduttaa (fi) Russian: цепене́ть (ru) (cepenétʹ)

to cause the mind or senses to be less acute

Finnish: turruttaa (fi)

to become numb physically

Finnish: puutua (fi), turtua (fi); kohmettua (due to cold) Russian: неме́ть (ru) (nemétʹ)