Stupefy
//ˈst(j)upəˌfaɪ// verb
verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To dull the senses or capacity to think thereby reducing responsiveness; to stun. especially, transitive
"a stupefying drug; a stupefacient"
- 2 make senseless or dizzy by or as if by a blow wordnet
- 3 To astonish or stun, especially as a result of some distressing action. broadly, figuratively, transitive
"The police's negligence and callousness continued to stupefy her."
- 4 be a mystery or bewildering to wordnet
- 5 To deprive a material of the ability to undergo change or movement, especially deformation. obsolete, transitive
"The next is, when it is not malleable, but yet it is not fluent, but stupified^([sic])."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 make dull or stupid or muddle with drunkenness or infatuation wordnet
Example
More examples"At first he spurred his horse at a quick pace through an avenue of the park, as if, by rapidity of motion, he could stupefy the confusion of feelings with which he was assailed."
Etymology
From Middle French stupéfier, from Latin stupefaciō (“strike dumb, stun with amazement, stupefy”), from stupeō (“I am stunned, speechless”) (English stupid, stupor) + faciō (“do, make”).
More for "stupefy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.