leaden
/ˈlɛdən/
leaden adjective: made of lead.
Adjective
leaden (comparative more leaden, superlative most leaden)
- Made of lead.
- Resembling the color of lead, metallic or dark gray; (of daylight) dim, overcast.
- The sky was dark and overcast, a leaden pall producing a deep gloom.
- It was at the end of February..., when the world was cold..., when icy rains fell from the leaden skies in continual drizzling showers.1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust, page 31 (2001 Perennial paperback edition)
- Resembling the density of lead, heavy.
- Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.1819, John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 109 - Which break a teachless nature to the yoke.1818-1819, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Julian and Maddalo … if man be The passive thing you say, I should not see Much harm in the religions and old saws (Tho' I may never own such leaden laws)
- Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
- Resembling the ponderousness of lead, sluggish.
Verb
leaden (third-person singular simple present leadens, present participle leadening, simple past and past participle leadened)
- To make or become dull or overcast.
leaden meaning in Malayalam, Kannada, Sanskrit and Sinhala
leaden in Malayalam
- heavy, dull, weighty
- ഈയംപോലെ കാണപ്പെടുന്ന, കനം തുങ്ങിയ, ജഡമായ, മങ്ങിയ, മുഷിഞ്ഞ, മടുപ്പുള്ള
- sluggish, heavy, lumbering
- ഈയക്കട്ടി വച്ചപോലുള്ള, മന്ദമായി നീങ്ങുന്ന, അലസമായ, ഭാരവത്തായ, മരംപേലെയുള്ള, വലിച്ചിഴയ്ക്കുന്ന
- dull, boring, unimaginative
- മടുപ്പുണ്ടാക്കുന്ന, അരസികം, മുഷിപ്പൻ, വിരസ, ഭാവനാപരമല്ലാത്ത, ഭാവനാശൂന്യമായ
- grey, greyish, black
- ഈയനിറമായ, നരച്ച, മങ്ങിയ, വിളറിയ, ചാരനിറമായ, ഇരുണ്ട
leaden in Kannada
- ಸೀಸದ ಬಣ್ಣದ, ಜಡ, ನಿಷ್ಕ್ರಿಯ
leaden in Sanskrit
- leaden, of lead
- सीस sī́sa
leaden in Sinhala
- leaden
- ඊයම් īyam
More languagesFewer languages
- leaden in Arabic
- رَصَاصِيّ raṣāṣiyy
Examples of leaden in a sentence
- My legs felt stiff and leaden from miles of walking.
- The Rhodians, who used leaden bullets, were able to project their missiles twice as far as the Persian slingers, who used large stones.
- I believe pop music is too important to be left to the leaden, dullardly and unambitious.
Synonyms of leaden
8 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of leaden
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more leaden |
| superlative | most leaden |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | leadens |
| present participle | leadening |
| past participle | leadened |
| past | leadened |
Origin of leaden
From Middle English leden, leaden, from Old English lēaden (“leaden, of lead”). Cognate with West Frisian leaden (“leaden”), Dutch loden (“leaden”). By surface analysis, lead + -en.
Words formed from leaden
Phrases with leaden
Words that rhyme with leaden
Questions about leaden
- What does leaden mean?
- Leaden means made of lead.
- What is leaden in Malayalam?
- Leaden in Malayalam is ഈയംപോലെ കാണപ്പെടുന്ന, കനം തുങ്ങിയ, ജഡമായ. See Leaden meaning in Malayalam.
- What part of speech is leaden?
- Leaden can be an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce leaden?
- Leaden is pronounced /ˈlɛdən/.
Words near leaden in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: leaden (page history and authors); leaden (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); leaden (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); सीस (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); ඊයම් (Sinhala) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-leaden.wav.
Cite this entry: “leaden.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/leaden. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.