deaden — OET · Shobdo

deaden

verb

1 surgeons used ether to deaden the pain:

numb, stifle, dull, blunt, suppress;

alleviate, mitigate, moderate, weaken, diminish, reduce, decrease, lessen, palliate, abate, ease, soothe, relieve, assuage, subdue, take the edge off, get rid of, put an end to.

▷antonyms intensify.

2 the wood panelling deadened any noise from outside:

muffle, mute, smother, stifle, dull, damp, damp down, tone down, hush, silence, quieten, soften, cushion, blanket, buffer, absorb;

British quieten;

North American quiet.

▷antonyms amplify.

3 laughing at the joke might deaden us to the moral issue:

desensitize, render insensitive, make insensitive, numb, benumb, anaesthetize;

harden, toughen, harden someone's heart.

▷antonyms sensitize.

deaden Oxford Dictionary of English