stupefy
English
    
WOTD – 6 October 2010
    Alternative forms
    
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”).
Pronunciation
    
- IPA(key): /ˈst(j)upəˌfaɪ/, /ˈst͡ʃupəˌfaɪ/
 Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) 
Verb
    
stupefy (third-person singular simple present stupefies, present participle stupefying, simple past and past participle stupefied)
- (transitive) To dull the senses or capacity to think thereby reducing responsiveness; to dazzle or stun.
- 1917, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “A Bad Beginning”, in Look! We Have Come Through!, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 77:
- What if I love you!—This misery / Of your dissatisfaction and misprision / Stupefies me.
 
 
 
Derived terms
    
Related terms
    
Translations
    
dull the senses or capacity to think
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