numb

/nʌm/

numb adjective: physically unable to feel, not having the power of sensation.

Adjective

numb (comparative number, superlative numbest)

Physically unable to feel, not having the power of sensation.
- fingers numb with cold
- legs numb from kneeling
Synonyms:

deadened, insensible, nerveless, dead
Emotionally unable to feel or respond in a normal way.
- numb with shock; numb with boredom
- […] when we know that hundreds are rendered homeless every day, and countless thousands are killed and wounded, men and boys mowed down like a field of grain, and with as little compunction, we grow a little bit numb to human misery.1915, Nellie McClung, chapter 2, in In Times Like These, Toronto: McLeod & Allen
Synonyms:

stunned, dead
(Maine) Dumb or stupid.
(obsolete) Causing numbness.
- […] he did lap me
  Even in his own garments, and gave himself,
  All thin and naked to the numb cold night.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Verb

numb (third-person singular simple present numbs, present participle numbing, simple past and past participle numbed)

(transitive) To cause to become numb (physically or emotionally).
- The dentist gave me novocaine to numb my tooth before drilling, thank goodness.
- When I first heard the news, I was numbed by the shock.
Synonyms:

benumb
(transitive) To cause (a feeling) to be less intense.
- He turned to alcohol to numb his pain.
- [I was] thankful for the pain, which helped to numb my terror.1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, “The Grey Woman”, in The Grey Woman and Other Tales, London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Synonyms:

dull
(transitive) To cause (the mind, faculties, etc.) to be less acute.
- […] hunger, fatigue, and despairing hopelessness had numbed his brain […]1912, Saki, “The Hounds of Fate”, in The Chronicles of Clovis, London: John Lane, page 219
- The noise, the rush of air past our ears, was positively terrific. It actually seemed to numb the senses and make it almost impossible to take in impressions at all.1927, Hugh Lofting, Doctor Dolittle’s Garden, Part Four, Chapter 6
Synonyms:

dull
(intransitive) To become numb (especially physically).
- […] after fumbling with numbing fingers for ten or fifteen minutes, he waved his hand with a gesture of despair […]1918, Lewis R. Freeman, “Wonders of the Teleferica”, in Many Fronts, London: John Murray, page 270
- […] once more his feet began to numb. Again he got down and stamped the circulation going, but as soon as he began to ride again they numbed.1919, Arthur Murray Chisholm, chapter 18, in The Land of Strong Men, New York: H.K. Fly

numb meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

numb in Hindi

numb, insensible: स्तब्ध stabdh
numb, benumbed, insensible: सुन्न sunn

numb in Tamil

to become numb physically: மர mara

numb in Urdu

physically unable to feel: سُن sun, بے حِس

More languagesFewer languages

numb in Bengali: অসাড়, অনুভূতিশূন্য, ভোঁতা করা
numb in Malayalam: മരവിച്ച, തരിച്ചുപോയ
numb in Kannada: ಮರಗಟ್ಟಿಸು, ಜೋವು ಹಿಡಿಸು, ಸ್ತಬ್ಧಗೊಳಿಸು, ನಿಶ್ಚೇಷ್ಟಿತಗೊಳಿಸು
numb in Punjabi: ਸੁੰਨ sunn
numb in Tagalog: manhid
numb in Arabic: خَدِر ḵadir, خَدَّرَ ḵaddara, خَفَّفَ ḵaffafa
numb in Malay: kebas
numb in Indonesian: mati rasa
numb in Persian: بیحس, کرخت, سر ser
numb in Thai: ชา chaa
numb in Vietnamese: vô cảm, chết lặng, tê, tê cóng

Examples of numb in a sentence

I’d been too dazed, too numb, to feel the full viciousness of it.1966, Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, New York: Modern Library, published 1992, Part One, p. 77:
[…] he submitted […] as a traitor, his mind numb with vodka, submits to a firing squad.2016, Julian Barnes, The Noise of Time, Random House Canada, Part Three:
But her main concern is the hard seating that numbs the nether regions.2020 April 22, “Letters: Open Access: Not easy for laptops”, in Rail, page 31:
[The sofa] exhaled a breath of trapped ancient farts, barf-smell, and antiseptic, the parfum de asylum that gradually numbed my nose to all other scents on the ward.2004, Cory Doctorow, chapter 13, in Eastern Standard Tribe:

All 34 example sentences with numb

Synonyms of numb

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of numb

Forms of numb

Adjective
comparative	number
superlative	numbest
Verb
third-person singular present	numbs
present participle	numbing
past participle	numbed
past	numbed

Origin of numb

From the past participle of nim (“to take”). Compare German benommen (“dazed, numb”) and Old Norse numinn. The final ⟨b⟩ is a later addition; it was never pronounced, and did not appear in the original word.

Words formed from numb

Phrases with numb

Words that rhyme with numb

42 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about numb

What does numb mean?: Numb means physically unable to feel, not having the power of sensation.
What is numb in Hindi?: Numb in Hindi is स्तब्ध (stabdh), सुन्न (sunn). See Numb meaning in Hindi.
How do you use numb in a sentence?: I’d been too dazed, too numb, to feel the full viciousness of it.
What part of speech is numb?: Numb can be an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce numb?: Numb is pronounced /nʌm/.

Words near numb in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: numb (page history and authors); सुन्न (Hindi) (page history and authors); बधीर (Marathi) (page history and authors); numb (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); numb (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); numb (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਸੁੰਨ (Punjabi) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-numb.wav.

Cite this entry: “numb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/numb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.