1
as in to undermine
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality
an excess of detail deadens much of the mystery novel's suspense
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to reduce
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling
a couple of aspirins deadened the headache
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deaden
Thin sound deadening The Enabling Technology prize went to CompositeEdge GmbH and ATA Mute BV for a new kind of sound deadening.
—
Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 16 Sep. 2025
Scrolling on one’s phone can be a deadening experience, but here’s someone feeling, or at least pretending to feel, a genuine feeling—even if the abundance of these videos surely numbs us further.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
Horror of this scale has the effect of deadening words, making stories of the most unimaginable violence land with a dull thud.
—Jack Sheehan
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
The Finnish midfielder deadened the ball with a foot and quickly chipped it laterally over nearby defenders.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for deaden
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deaden
Verb
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The video evidence also appears to undermine elements of the government’s narrative of what happened.—
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Environmental and labor leaders say the pause is costing thousands of jobs and undermining energy independence.—
Verb
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During his January 2025 State of the State address, Little called for tax cuts that could reduce the state’s general fund by about $100 million.—
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To reduce sizes, builders are going back to open floor plans with fewer hallways.—
Verb
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Evergreen branches bent under the weight of snow are already weakened; sweeping down the length of the branch toward the ground adds to the stress and increases the potential for breakage.—
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These policies impose devastating costs on American citizens, weakening our economy, increasing the national debt, straining public budgets and tearing families apart.—
Verb
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And Chinese exporters diverted flows through Southeast Asia and Mexico, dulling the effects of tariffs even as headline restrictions intensified.—
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But this year the shower will be dulled by the supermoon.—
Verb
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The thought of having to tell the story of his illness again, even to herself, exhausts her.—
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Though designed to work alongside humans, Atlas is engineered to operate in conditions that would exhaust most human workers.—
Verb
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Instead, lightly dampen a microfiber cloth first and wipe away dust and dirt.—
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That's just because the sugar, again, is dampening that effect.—
Verb
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Even seasoned travelers underestimate how quickly streaming and Bluetooth drain a phone or tablet at 35,000 feet.—
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Investments in controlling invasive species have led to a 75 percent reduction in the area overtaken by melaleuca, a particularly thirsty tree species introduced in the river of grass near the turn of the 20th century to help drain it.—
Verb
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Still seething after a sloppy 19-16 loss to the Detroit Lions, Johnson wasn’t hiding his dissatisfaction with a defeat that seemed to diminish his team’s momentum.—
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Kaufman moved there 30 years ago, and since that time the island’s community has diminished by degrees, its youth lured away by better employment prospects in Provo and overseas.—
Cite this Entry
“Deaden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaden. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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