deadening \dead"en*ing\ adj. [p. pr. of verb deaden[3].]

Rendering less lively, intense, or vigorous; as, the deadening effect of some routine tasks. [WordNet 1.5]

2. So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; as, the deadening effect of some routine tasks.

Syn: boring, dreary, ho-hum, irksome, tedious, tiresome, wearisome. [WordNet 1.5]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Deaden \Dead"en\ (d[e^]d"'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deadened (d[e^]d"'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Deadening.]

[From Dead; cf. AS. d?dan to kill, put to death. See Dead, a.]

1. To make as dead; to impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation; to lessen the force or acuteness of; to blunt; as, to deaden the natural powers or feelings; to deaden a sound. [1913 Webster]

As harper lays his open palm Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]

2. To lessen the velocity or momentum of; to retard; as, to deaden a ship's headway. [1913 Webster]

3. To make vapid or spiritless; as, to deaden wine. [1913 Webster]

4. To deprive of gloss or brilliancy; to obscure; as, to deaden gilding by a coat of size. [1913 Webster]

5. To render impervious to sound, as a wall or floor; to deafen. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

deadening \dead"en*ing\ n. The act of making something futile and useless (as by routine).

Syn: stultification, impairment. [WordNet 1.5]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

98 Moby Thesaurus words for "deadening": abatement, abating, allaying, allayment, alleviating, alleviation, alleviative, analgesia, analgesic, anesthesia, anesthetic, anesthetizing, anodyne, appeasement, assuagement, assuaging, assuasive, attenuation, attrition, balmy, balsamic, benumbing, blunting, calming, cathartic, chastening, cleansing, cushioning, dampening, damping, debilitation, demulcent, demulsion, devitalization, dilution, diminishing, diminishment, diminution, dulcification, dulling, ease, easement, easing, effemination, emollient, enervation, enfeeblement, evisceration, exhaustion, extenuation, falling-off, fatigue, hushing, inanition, languishment, leniency, lenitive, lessening, letdown, letup, lightening, loosening, lulling, mitigating, mitigation, mitigative, modulation, mollification, narcotic, numbing, pacification, pain-killing, palliation, palliative, purgative, quietening, quieting, reducing, reduction, relaxation, relaxing, relief, relieving, remedial, remedy, remission, salving, slackening, softening, soothing, stunning, stupefying, subduement, subduing, tempering, thinning, tranquilization, weakening

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

deadening adj : so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the deadening effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play"; "his competent but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention"; "what an irksome task the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke; "tedious days on the train"; "the tiresome chirping of a cricket"- Mark Twain; "other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome" [syn: boring, dull, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome]

noun

the act of making something futile and useless (as by routine) [syn: stultification, constipation, impairment]

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Deaden \Dead"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deadened; p. pr. & vb. n. Deadening.]

[From Dead; cf. AS. d?dan to kill, put to death. See Dead, a.]

1. To make as dead; to impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation; to lessen the force or acuteness of; to blunt; as, to deaden the natural powers or feelings; to deaden a sound.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)