deaden

English

Etymology

From dead +‎ -en. Compare Dutch doden (“to kill”), West Frisian deadzje (“to kill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛdən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdən

Verb

deaden (third-person singular simple present deadens, present participle deadening, simple past and past participle deadened)

1. (transitive) To render less lively; to diminish; to muffle.

   deaden the pain

   deaden sound

   deaden the senses

   Painkillers helped to deaden the pain.

   Thick curtains deaden the sound of traffic.

   Routine can deaden one’s enthusiasm.

2. (intransitive) To become less lively; to diminish (by itself).
3. (transitive) To make soundproof.

   to deaden a wall or a floor

Derived terms

• deadener
• deadeningly
• undeadened

Translations

To render less lively

• French: endormir (fr)
• Galician: amortuxar, esmorecer (gl)
• German: abtöten (de)
• Irish: bodhraigh
• Italian: intontire (it), smorzare (it), attenuare (it), sminuire (it)
• Maltese: mewwet
• Spanish: amortecer (es), amortiguar (es)

To make soundproof — see also damp,‎ absorb

• Catalan: insonoritzar (ca)
• French: assourdir (fr), isoler (fr)
• Spanish: insonorizar (es)

Anagrams

• deaned