Benumbed

/bɪˈnʌmd/ adjective

Definition

Made numb or unable to feel physically or emotionally; in a state of being numbed or incapacitated.

Etymology

Past participle of 'benumb,' formed regularly by adding '-ed' to the verb, used since the 16th century in literature describing both physical and emotional paralysis.

Kelly Says

Writers loved 'benumbed' in the 18th and 19th centuries to describe grief-stricken characters—the word captures something that 'numb' alone doesn't, suggesting the process of *becoming* insensible rather than simply being insensible.

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