5 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
deadening \dead"en*ing\ adjective [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]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
deadening \dead"en*ing\ n.
The act of making something futile and useless (as by
routine).
Syn: stultification, impairment.
[WordNet 1.5]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Deaden \Dead"en\ (d[e^]d"'n), verb (used with an object) [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}, adjective]
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.
As harper lays his open palm
Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations.
--Longfellow.
2. To lessen the velocity or momentum of; to retard; as, to
deaden a ship's headway.
3. To make vapid or spiritless; as, to deaden wine.
4. To deprive of gloss or brilliancy; to obscure; as, to
deaden gilding by a coat of size.
5. To render impervious to sound, as a wall or floor; to
deafen.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
deadening
adjective
1: 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}, {dull}, {ho-hum},
{irksome}, {slow}, {tedious}, {tiresome}, {wearisome}]
noun
1: the act of making something futile and useless (as by
routine) [syn: {stultification}, {constipation}, {impairment}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
98 Moby Thesaurus words for "deadening":
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