Numbed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Deprived of physical sensation or feeling ; unable to respond emotionally or mentally due to shock or distress
2. Having lost the power of sensation in a part of the body ; emotionally unresponsive or mentally dulled from overwhelming experience
3. Rendered physically insensible to pain or touch ; mentally or emotionally shut down and unreactive as a result of an upsetting event

Etymology: The word "numbed" is simply the past tense and past participle of "numb," so its story is really the story of "numb." That story is a tangle of meanings. The root sense is "to take," from the Old English "niman," and "numb" comes from its past participle, "numen," which meant "taken." A thing that was "taken" was seized or overcome, so the idea of being seized into stillness gradually became the idea of being deadened, unable to feel. The most surprising detail is the letter at the end. "Numb" was never pronounced with a "b." It was added later, probably by analogy with words like "limb" and "climb," where the "b" is silent. The Old Norse "numinn" and the German "benommen," meaning "dazed," show the same participle-based origin, so the word's sense of being overcome or stunned runs deep in the Germanic family.

Synonyms: insensitive, dull, benumbed, stupefied, unfeeling

Antonyms: sensitive, aware, alert, responsive, feeling