as in apathy
a lack of emotion or emotional expressiveness the prisoner exhibited the numbness of someone who had spent more years behind bars than he could remember
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of numbness The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) says symptoms depend on the patient, but MS can lead to muscle weakness, vision changes, walking problems, numbness, and more. —
Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 21 Apr. 2026 Common symptoms can include numbness or tingling, slurred speech, electric-shock sensations accompanying certain neck movements, trouble walking or not being able to walk at all, partial or complete loss of vision, among others, according to the clinic. —Anika Reed, USA Today, 17 Apr. 2026 Who Typically Gets This Surgery Per Cleveland Clinic, candidates typically have degenerative disc disease causing persistent neck pain, arm numbness, tingling or weakness that hasn’t responded to conservative treatment. —Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2026 Symptoms differ from strokes caused by a blockage in the brain, as a spinal stroke causes pain in the neck or back that radiates through the limbs, muscle weakness or numbness, incontinence and loss of sensation, such as feeling touch or temperature changes. —Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 17 Apr. 2026 Singer Pink’s cervical disc replacement has drawn wide attention to a procedure that may be directly relevant for anyone living with persistent neck pain, arm tingling or numbness that won’t quit. —Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 17 Apr. 2026 In sticking through these 30 minutes, numbness begins to feel aspirational. —Joshua Minsoo Kim, Pitchfork, 13 Apr. 2026 What followed wasn’t numbness so much as a necessary adaptation for survival. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 7 Apr. 2026 The numbness remained even when he was told that his daughter’s condition would likely improve with a stem cell transplant—his fear of a terminal diagnosis could be assuaged. —Literary Hub, 1 Apr. 2026
Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 21 Apr. 2026 Common symptoms can include numbness or tingling, slurred speech, electric-shock sensations accompanying certain neck movements, trouble walking or not being able to walk at all, partial or complete loss of vision, among others, according to the clinic. —Anika Reed, USA Today, 17 Apr. 2026 Who Typically Gets This Surgery Per Cleveland Clinic, candidates typically have degenerative disc disease causing persistent neck pain, arm numbness, tingling or weakness that hasn’t responded to conservative treatment. —Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2026 Symptoms differ from strokes caused by a blockage in the brain, as a spinal stroke causes pain in the neck or back that radiates through the limbs, muscle weakness or numbness, incontinence and loss of sensation, such as feeling touch or temperature changes. —Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 17 Apr. 2026 Singer Pink’s cervical disc replacement has drawn wide attention to a procedure that may be directly relevant for anyone living with persistent neck pain, arm tingling or numbness that won’t quit. —Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 17 Apr. 2026 In sticking through these 30 minutes, numbness begins to feel aspirational. —Joshua Minsoo Kim, Pitchfork, 13 Apr. 2026 What followed wasn’t numbness so much as a necessary adaptation for survival. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 7 Apr. 2026 The numbness remained even when he was told that his daughter’s condition would likely improve with a stem cell transplant—his fear of a terminal diagnosis could be assuaged. —Literary Hub, 1 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for numbness
Noun
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He was supposed to be the antidote to the apathy.— Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2026
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The growing apathy toward big-screen entertainment was also owed to the patina of all-American wholesomeness that studios imposed on their stables of stars, and the nothing-to-see-here style of movie journalism was wearing thin.— Joshua John Miller, Vanity Fair, 9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Inner emptiness has always been a fixation of Ye.— Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 1 Apr. 2026
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While fans would have surely loved to get any of these songs over the past five years in lieu of the chaos of 2020s-era Ye, there’s still an emptiness at the heart of Bully.— Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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And if salt and water start to move, so, too, does the phlegm that has been sitting dehydrated in the lungs of CF patients.— Courtney Crowder, USA Today, 10 Apr. 2026
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Smelling of rotting grapes, the phlegm is musty and acetone-tinged, like a decanter of red wine forgotten in a dark kitchen corner after a dinner party, left to turn into vinegar.— Courtney Crowder, Des Moines Register, 15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The coldness of the water constricts arteries, requiring the heart to work harder than normal to function.— Saleen Martin, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2026
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The song has said everything that Ines can’t bring herself to, and her coldness chips away in the days and weeks that follow.— Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Two French Rafale fighter jets’ two-man crews — a pilot and a navigator — were seen racing in two vans to the planes’ hangars from the headquarters building the French detachment uses during its four-month deployment on the air base.— ABC News, ABC News, 21 Apr. 2026
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This directly clashes with Cooper's Aquarius moon — also in her seventh house — which craves space, autonomy and emotional detachment.— Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Numbness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/thesaurus/numbness. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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