From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Stultify \Stul"ti*fy\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Stultified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Stultifying}.] [L. stultus foolish + -fy.]
1. To make foolish; to make a fool of; as, to stultify one by imposition; to stultify one's self by silly reasoning or conduct. --Burke.
2. To regard as a fool, or as foolish. [R.]
The modern sciolist stultifies all understanding but his own, and that which he conceives like his own. --Hazlitt.
3. (Law) To allege or prove to be of unsound mind, so that the performance of some act may be avoided.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
verb
1: prove to be of unsound mind or demonstrate someone's incompetence; "nobody is legally allowed to stultify himself"
2: cause to appear foolish; "He stultified himself by contradicting himself and being inconsistent"
3: deprive of strength or efficiency; make useless or worthless; "This measure crippled our efforts"; "Their behavior stultified the boss's hard work" [syn: {cripple}] [also: {stultified}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
77 Moby Thesaurus words for "stultify": annul, asphyxiate, befool, bottle up, bring to nothing, buffer, cancel, cancel out, censor, check, choke off, clamp down on, come to nothing, constipate, cork, cork up, counterbalance, crack down on, crush, damp down, deaden, discourage, drown, dull, dupe, enfeeble, extinguish, frustrate, gag, gull, hold down, impair, infatuate, inhibit, invalidate, jump on, keep down, keep under, kill, muzzle, negate, negativate, negative, neutralize, nullify, offset, pour water on, put down, put on, quash, quell, quench, repress, restrain, shut down on, silence, sit down on, sit on, smash, smother, squash, squelch, stagnate, stanch, stifle, strangle, stunt, subdue, suffocate, suppress, throttle, thwart, trammel, undo, vitiate, void, weaken
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