Word.ws English Dictionary

stumpifying

stumpifying is the present participle and gerund of stumpify.

Meaning of stumpify

Verb

stumpify (third-person singular simple present stumpifies, present participle stumpifying, simple past and past participle stumpified)

  1. (transitive) To turn into a stump.
    • I sympathize in your resentment against the canonical Dons, who stumpify the heads of those good green people, beneath whose friendly shade so many of your happiest hours have glided away, — but they defy them; let them stumpify as much as they please, time will repair the mischief, — their verdant...1861, Winthrop Sargent, The Life and Career of Major John André, page 20
  2. (transitive) To baffle; to completely puzzle.
    • I did make sure my PALcode was above the required minimum but other than that, I have been stumpified.2002 October 11, LMcC, “Trying to install OVMS 7.0 on Digital Alphaserver 1000 4/266”, in comp.os.vms (Usenet)

Adjective

stumpifying (comparative more stumpifying, superlative most stumpifying)

  1. (slang) Baffling; leaving one confused with no helpful ideas.
    • This was a bit stumpifying. I did not know why something like this would happen when we both agreed about what right a fortune I gave him.2012, AJ Stern, Miss Fortune, →ISBN
    • However, starting with these basics can often help you determine the best strategies for solving even the most stumpifying of business reference stumpers.2013, Celia Ross, Making Sense of Business Reference, →ISBN

Forms of stumpifying

comparativemore stumpifying
superlativemost stumpifying

Origin of stumpifying

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Compare stumped.

Questions about stumpifying

What does stumpifying mean?
Stumpifying means baffling; leaving one confused with no helpful ideas.
What is stumpifying the present participle and gerund of?
Stumpifying is the present participle and gerund of stumpify.
What part of speech is stumpifying?
Stumpifying is an adjective.

Words near stumpifying in the dictionary

  1. stumpies
  2. stumpiest
  3. stumpified
  4. stumpifies
  5. stumpify
  6. stumpifying
  7. stumpily
  8. stumpiness
  9. stumping
  10. stumping it
  11. stumping out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stumpifying (page history and authors); stumpify (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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Cite this entry: “stumpifying.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stumpifying. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.