1
: unable to feel anything in a particular part of your body especially as a result of cold or anesthesia
It was so cold that my fingers went numb.
2
: unable to think, feel, or react normally because of something that shocks or upsets you : indifferent
He stood there numb with fear.
numbness
noun
numbed; numbing
: to make (someone or something) numb: such as
a
: to cause (a part of the body) to lose sensation
hands numbed by the cold
The injection will numb the area to be operated on.
b
: to impair in force or sensation : deaden
trying to numb the pain
c
: to make (someone) unable to think, feel, or react normally
But there is no humor in Natural Born Killers. It is a relentlessly bloody story designed to shock us and to numb us further to the senselessness of reckless murder.—
Michael Shnayerson
Michael ShnayersonIn her last book, Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag disputes the notion that viewers are numbed by an onslaught of photographed calamities.—Dennis Lim
Dennis LimBut Madame Melmotte was neither crushed by grief nor did she affect to be so crushed. She had been numbed by the suddenness and by the awe of the catastrophe.—Anthony Trolloppe
Anthony TrolloppeExamples of numb in a Sentence
Adjective
The side of my face was still numb an hour after the surgery.
I had a numb feeling in my toes.
It was so cold that my fingers went numb.
A stroke can cause one side of your body to go numb.
Her son had died and she just felt numb.
He stood there numb with fear.
Verb
wait for the medication to numb your mouth
Recent Examples on the Web
Mac Engel
october 23, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2025
In a small town like Harding, a crime involving local children of local families shatters the relatively placid and usually numb routines of daily life.
—Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Elmira Aliieva, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2025
Taylor makes a persuasive case for how artists can grow, if incrementally and maybe bitterly, amid so much numbing digital noise.
—Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for numb
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Adjective
Fans are numb to these sorts of stories.
—Mac Engel
october 23, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2025
In a small town like Harding, a crime involving local children of local families shatters the relatively placid and usually numb routines of daily life.
—Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
Although the brain itself has no pain receptors, Bacon was given local anesthetic to numb her scalp and skull, as doctors made holes half the size of a small coin in her skull and implanted the stimulating electrodes inside.
—Elmira Aliieva, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2025
Taylor makes a persuasive case for how artists can grow, if incrementally and maybe bitterly, amid so much numbing digital noise.
—Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for numb
Cite this Entry
“Numb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/numb. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
numb
adjective
: devoid of sensation (as from the administration of anesthesia or exposure to cold)
numb
transitive verb
Arm or leg surgery, even total hip replacements, now can be performed with regional anesthesia, which numbs only the area being operated upon.
—Marilyn Chase, The Wall Street Journal
Marilyn Chase, The Wall Street Journal
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