Word.ws English Dictionary

defeatingly

defeatingly adverb: so as to defeat, or frustrate progress.

Adverb

defeatingly (not comparable)

  1. So as to defeat, or frustrate progress.
    • Mathematics is cognitively difficult, technical, abstract, and (for many) defeatingly impersonal: one needs, it seems, to have been inside the dressing room in order to make much sense of the play.2006, Reuben Hersh, 18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics, page 97
    • It seemed defeatingly solid, but the metal building attaching to the frame seemed rusty and fatigued. He pressed against it, and it seemed like it would give way easily.2012, Paula Rae Wallace, The Andersons, page 298

Origin of defeatingly

From defeating + -ly.

Questions about defeatingly

What does defeatingly mean?
Defeatingly means so as to defeat, or frustrate progress.
What part of speech is defeatingly?
Defeatingly is an adverb.

Words near defeatingly in the dictionary

  1. defeathers
  2. defeatican
  3. defeaticans
  4. defeating
  5. defeating the purpose
  6. defeatingly
  7. defeatism
  8. defeatisms
  9. defeatist
  10. defeatistly
  11. defeatists

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: defeatingly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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