stultify
stul·ti·fy
(stŭl′tə-fī′)tr.v. stul·ti·fied, stul·ti·fy·ing, stul·ti·fies
1. To cause to lose interest or feel dull and not alert: The audience was stultified by the speaker's unchanging monotone.
2. To render useless or ineffectual: "[She believed] that the requirements of conventional academic life can stultify imagination, stifle enthusiasm and deaden prose style" (Robert K. Massie).
3. To cause to appear stupid, inconsistent, or ridiculous: "Should he now stultify himself in all those quarrels by admitting he had been cruel, unjust, and needlessly jealous?" (Anthony Trollope).
4. Law To claim incapacity as setting aside or preventing enforcement of (a deed or contract).
[Late Latin stultificāre, to make foolish : Latin stultus, foolish; see stel- in Indo-European roots + Latin -ficāre, -fy.]
stul′ti·fi·ca′tion (-fĭ-kā′shən) n.
stul′ti·fi′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
stultify
(ˈstʌltɪˌfaɪ)vb (tr) , -fies, -fying or -fied
1. to make useless, futile, or ineffectual, esp by routine
2. to cause to appear absurd or inconsistent
3. (Law) to prove (someone) to be of unsound mind and thus not legally responsible
[C18: from Latin stultus stupid + facere to make]
ˌstultifiˈcation n
ˈstultiˌfier n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
stul•ti•fy
(ˈstʌl təˌfaɪ)v.t. -fied, -fy•ing.
1. to make, or cause to appear, foolish or ridiculous.
2. to render futile or ineffectual, esp. by degrading or frustrating means.
3. Law. to allege or prove to be of unsound mind.
[1760–70; < Late Latin stultificāre= Latin stult(us) stupid + -i- -i- + -ficāre -fy]
stul`ti•fi•ca′tion, n.
stul′ti•fi`er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
stultify
Past participle: stultified
Gerund: stultifying
| Imperative |
|---|
| stultify |
| stultify |
| Present |
|---|
| I stultify |
| you stultify |
| he/she/it stultifies |
| we stultify |
| you stultify |
| they stultify |
| Preterite |
|---|
| I stultified |
| you stultified |
| he/she/it stultified |
| we stultified |
| you stultified |
| they stultified |
| Present Continuous |
|---|
| I am stultifying |
| you are stultifying |
| he/she/it is stultifying |
| we are stultifying |
| you are stultifying |
| they are stultifying |
| Present Perfect |
|---|
| I have stultified |
| you have stultified |
| he/she/it has stultified |
| we have stultified |
| you have stultified |
| they have stultified |
| Past Continuous |
|---|
| I was stultifying |
| you were stultifying |
| he/she/it was stultifying |
| we were stultifying |
| you were stultifying |
| they were stultifying |
| Past Perfect |
|---|
| I had stultified |
| you had stultified |
| he/she/it had stultified |
| we had stultified |
| you had stultified |
| they had stultified |
| Future |
|---|
| I will stultify |
| you will stultify |
| he/she/it will stultify |
| we will stultify |
| you will stultify |
| they will stultify |
| Future Perfect |
|---|
| I will have stultified |
| you will have stultified |
| he/she/it will have stultified |
| we will have stultified |
| you will have stultified |
| they will have stultified |
| Future Continuous |
|---|
| I will be stultifying |
| you will be stultifying |
| he/she/it will be stultifying |
| we will be stultifying |
| you will be stultifying |
| they will be stultifying |
| Present Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I have been stultifying |
| you have been stultifying |
| he/she/it has been stultifying |
| we have been stultifying |
| you have been stultifying |
| they have been stultifying |
| Future Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I will have been stultifying |
| you will have been stultifying |
| he/she/it will have been stultifying |
| we will have been stultifying |
| you will have been stultifying |
| they will have been stultifying |
| Past Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I had been stultifying |
| you had been stultifying |
| he/she/it had been stultifying |
| we had been stultifying |
| you had been stultifying |
| they had been stultifying |
| Conditional |
|---|
| I would stultify |
| you would stultify |
| he/she/it would stultify |
| we would stultify |
| you would stultify |
| they would stultify |
| Past Conditional |
|---|
| I would have stultified |
| you would have stultified |
| he/she/it would have stultified |
| we would have stultified |
| you would have stultified |
| they would have stultified |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
Translations
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
stultify
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995