Leaden

//ˈlɛdən// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make or become dull or overcast. ambitransitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    Made of lead. dated, literary
  2. 2
    Pertaining to or resembling lead; grey, heavy, sluggish.

    "Where but to think is to be full of sorrow / And leaden-eyed despairs, / Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, / Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow."

  3. 3
    Dull; darkened with overcast.

    "the sky was leaden and thick"

Adjective
  1. 1
    darkened with overcast wordnet
  2. 2
    lacking lightness or liveliness wordnet
  3. 3
    (of movement) slow and laborious wordnet
  4. 4
    made heavy or weighted down with weariness wordnet
  5. 5
    made of lead wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dullploddingabeyantachromaticachromicacier

Example

More examples

"My legs were leaden from fatigue."

Etymology

From Middle English leden, leaden, from Old English lēaden (“leaden, of lead”). Cognate with West Frisian leaden (“leaden”), Dutch loden (“leaden”). By surface analysis, lead + -en.

Related phrases

fly with leaden wingsleaden flycatcherleaden-heartedwith leaden wings

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.