stupefy
/ˈst(j)upəˌfaɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.67 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To dull the senses or capacity to think thereby reducing responsiveness; to stun.
Transitive verb
verb
To deprive a material of the ability to undergo change or movement, especially deformation.
Obsolete; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "a stupefying drug; a stupefacient"
- "He stupefied her by means of chloroform, a general anaesthetic."
- "The police's negligence and callousness continued to stupefy her."
- "What if I love you!—This misery / Of your dissatisfaction and misprision / Stupefies me."
- "He also believed that idealism of any kind was a more or less disguised form of religion, which was invariably used by exploiters to delude and stupefy the masses."
- "The next is, when it is not malleable, but yet it is not fluent, but stupified^([sic])."
Etymology
From Middle French stupéfier, from Latin stupefaciō (“strike dumb, stun with amazement, stupefy”), from stupeō (“to be stunned, speechless”) (see English stupid, stupor) + faciō (“to do, make”).
Word Breakdown
- Root: *(s)tewp-