stupefy

English

WOTD – 6 October 2010

Alternative forms

• stupify

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):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

stupefy (third-person singular simple present stupefies, present participle stupefying, simple past and past participle stupefied)

1. (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.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To deprive a material of the ability to undergo change or movement, especially deformation.
   • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “IX. Century. [Articles of Enquiry.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 226:

     The next is, when it is not malleable, but yet it is not fluent, but stupified^[sic].

Derived terms

• stupefaction
• stupefied
• stupefiedness
• stupefier
• stupefyingly

 

Related terms

• stupe
• stupendous
• stupid
• stupor

 

Translations

dull the senses or capacity to think

• Armenian: ապշեցնել (hy) (apšecʻnel), շշմեցնել (hy) (ššmecʻnel)
• Bulgarian: притъпявам (bg) (pritǎpjavam), зашеметявам (bg) (zašemetjavam)
• Catalan: sorprendre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使驚奇／使惊奇 (zh) (shǐ jīngqí), 使驚訝／使惊讶 (zh) (shǐ jīngyà)

• Dutch: verdoven (nl), verdwazen (nl)
• Finnish: turruttaa (fi), tylsistää
• French: stupéfier (fr), abrutir (fr), hébéter (fr), sidérer (fr), abasourdir (fr), ahurir (fr), estomaquer (fr)
• German: betäuben (de)
• Hungarian: megdöbbent (hu)
• Italian: stupefare (it), abbrutire (it), sbalordire (it), confondere (it), ingarbugliare (it), annebbiare (it), istupidire (it)
• Japanese: 呆然とさせる (ja) (ぼうぜんとさせる, bōzen to saseru)
• Latin: stupefaciō
• Maori: whakahinamoe
• Polish: ogłuszać (pl) impf, ogłuszyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: entorpecer (pt), estupeficar
• Russian: изумля́ть (ru) impf (izumljátʹ), изуми́ть (ru) pf (izumítʹ), поража́ть (ru) impf (poražátʹ), порази́ть (ru) pf (porazítʹ), ошеломля́ть (ru) impf (ošelomljátʹ), ошеломи́ть (ru) pf (ošelomítʹ), приводи́ть в изумле́ние impf (privodítʹ v izumlénije), привести́ в изумле́ние pf (privestí v izumlénije)
• Spanish: pasmar (es), entorpecer (es), embotar (es), estupefacer, estupefaccionar, atontar (es), aturdir (es)
• Turkish: afallatmak (tr), sersemletmek (tr), şaşırtmak (tr), şoke etmek (tr), uyuşturmak (tr)