stultify
verb
stul·ti·fy
| \ ˈstəl-tə-ˌfī
\
\
stultified;
stultifying
Definition of stultify
1a
: to have a dulling or inhibiting effect on
b
: to impair, invalidate, or make ineffective : negate
2
: to cause to appear or be stupid, foolish, or absurdly illogical
3
archaic
: to allege or prove to be of unsound mind and hence not responsible
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Other Words from stultify
stultification
\ ˌstəl-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of stultify in a Sentence
The government has been stultified by bureaucracy.
Recent Examples on the Web
Every decision is a conversation, what could be ceaselessly stultifying to some. — Sara Miller Llana, The Christian Science Monitor, "Want to live in the city? Try buying a house with five friends.," 12 June 2019 Lately a wrinkle has appeared in the fabric of my days, one that both underscores my daily existence’s stultifying sameness and alters it somehow, complicates it. — Deborah E. Kennedy, Good Housekeeping, "My Mom Has Dementia, But Her Relationship With My Son Is Unforgettable," 3 May 2019 Burrows is trapped not only in a ludicrous wig but also in a cumbersome accent and stultifying Brahmin cadence. — Charles Mcnulty, latimes.com, "As Kennedy bios go, 'Jackie Unveiled' is more sketch than portrait," 2 Mar. 2018 There’s something stultifying about the non-Fed matchups in the Big Four. — Jon Wertheim, SI.com, "Mailbag: Appreciation for Non-Federer Big Four Rivalries and Memorable Matches," 20 Dec. 2017 That leads to stultified writing and stultified shows. — Lin-manuel Miranda, New York Times, "Stephen Sondheim, Theater’s Greatest Lyricist," 16 Oct. 2017 Reunions always are perilous in show business because some careers will have thrived and others will have stultified, or never really happened, or started strong and then dried up altogether. — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, "A Red Orchid turns on itself, and its audience, in stunning 'Evening at the Talk House'," 8 Oct. 2017 De Stijl reduced artistic forms to fundamental terms, and the notion of restrictions appealed to White, who believes that, as far as his imagination is concerned, having too many choices is stultifying. — Alec Wilkinson, The New Yorker, "Jack White’s Infinite Imagination," 13 Mar. 2017 These were, after all, sissy liberals engaged in stultifying cultural squabbles. — Amanda Hess, New York Times, "“Five Ways Political Correctness Kills Americans.”," 19 July 2016These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stultify.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for stultify
stultify
verb
English Language Learners Definition of stultify
formal
: to cause (someone or something) to become dull, slow, etc.
See the full definition for stultify in the English Language Learners Dictionary