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stupefy

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 6 October 2010

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle French stupéfier, from Latin stupefaciō (“strike dumb, stun with amazement, stupefy”), from stupeō (“I am stunned, speechless”) (English stupid, stupor) + faciō (“do, make”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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stupefy (third-person singular simple present stupefies, present participle stupefying, simple past and past participle stupefied)

  1. (transitive, especially law) To dull the senses or capacity to think thereby reducing responsiveness; to stun.
    a stupefying drug; a stupefacient
    He stupefied her by means of chloroform, a general anaesthetic.
  2. (transitive, by extension, figurative) To astonish or stun, especially as a result of some distressing action.
    The police's negligence and callousness continued to stupefy her.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To deprive a material of the ability to undergo change or movement, especially deformation.
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “IX. Century. [Articles of Enquiry.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 226:
      The next is, when it is not malleable, but yet it is not fluent, but stupified[sic].

Derived terms

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Translations

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