stupefy means to dull the senses or capacity to think thereby reducing responsiveness; to stun. It carries an Arena rating of 1516, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, stupefy ranks #2,309 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,574 of 14,448 for Funniest Words, #2,708 of 14,322 for Scariest Words.
stupefy is pronounced /ˈst(j)upəˌfaɪ/.
Why “stupefy” is a great word
To dull the senses or capacity to think, thereby reducing responsiveness or causing astonishment. From Middle French stupéfier, from Latin stupefacere, from stupeō ("to be stunned, amazed") + faciō ("to do, make"), first attested in English in the early 15th century. Unlike stun, with its sudden, physical blow, or bewilder, with its knot of confusion, to stupefy is to induce a profound and hollowing stillness of the mind. It is the slack-jawed silence after catastrophic news, the thick mental fog of a sleepless night, the heavy-lidded gaze before a flickering screen long past midnight—a self-protective anesthesia of consciousness when reality proves too large to enter.
Etymology
From Middle French stupéfier, from Latin stupefaciō (“strike dumb, stun with amazement, stupefy”), from stupeō (“to be stunned, speechless”) (see English stupid, stupor) + faciō (“to do, make”).
verb
- To dull the senses or capacity to think thereby reducing responsiveness; to stun.“a stupefying drug; a stupefacient”
- To astonish or stun, especially as a result of some distressing action.“The police's negligence and callousness continued to stupefy her.”
- To deprive a material of the ability to undergo change or movement, especially deformation.“The next is, when it is not malleable, but yet it is not fluent, but stupified^([sic]).”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- stupefaction 91% match — The state of extreme shock or astonishment. vs stupefy →
- astony 87% match — To astound; to paralyse, to stun. vs stupefy →
- astonishment 87% match — The feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise. vs stupefy →
- dumbstruck 86% match — So shocked as to be unable to speak. vs stupefy →
- bewilder 86% match — To confuse, disorientate, or puzzle someone, especially with many different choices. vs stupefy →
- flabbergast 86% match — To overwhelm with bewilderment; to amaze, confound, or stun, especially in a ludicrous manner. vs stupefy →
- mystify 86% match — To thoroughly confuse, befuddle, or bewilder. vs stupefy →
- consternation 85% match — Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for reflection; terror, combined with amazement; dismay. vs stupefy →