Numbly

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Experiencing a muted emotional state and a physical inability to sense or respond properly, while also behaving in a detached manner that indicates little awareness of surroundings
2. In a way that lacks physical sensation or emotional reaction, showing detachment from feelings or surroundings
3. Characterized by an absence of sensation or emotional involvement, appearing indifferent or unresponsive

Etymology: "Numbly" is simply "numb" with the adverb suffix "-ly" attached. The suffix descends from Old English "-līce," which was itself built from "līc," meaning body or form, and it was used to turn adjectives into adverbs describing how something was done: "numbly" means in a numb manner. "Numb" has a more interesting ancestry. It comes from Old English "niman," meaning to take or seize, which is the same verb that gave Middle English "nimen" and, in time, "nim," a slang word for stealing. The sense shifted from seizing to a sensation of being seized or deadened: a limb that has been gripped or pressed until it loses feeling is numb. The word was originally a past participle, meaning something like "taken" or "seized," before it came to mean deprived of feeling.

Synonyms: dully, apathetically, indifferently

Antonyms: sensitively, emotionally