deafening

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈdɛfənɪŋ/ UK /ˈdefənɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
extremely loud

The crowd erupted into deafening applause.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · extremely loud thunderous ear-splitting booming roaring resoundingpiercingoverpowering

Opposites

quiet faint muffled inaudible soft

Word family

Derived forms deafeningly

Related forms deafen deaf

Etymology

Present participle of deafen ('to make deaf'), from deaf (Old English dēaf) plus -en. The base descends from Proto-Germanic *daubaz ('dull, deaf').

dēaf Old English *daubaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# deafening

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈdɛfənɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdefənɪŋ/

## Meanings
1. extremely loud

## Examples
- The crowd erupted into deafening applause.

## Synonyms
- thunderous
- ear-splitting
- booming
- roaring
- resounding
- piercing
- overpowering

## Antonyms
- quiet
- faint
- muffled
- inaudible
- soft

## Derived Forms
- deafeningly

## Related Forms
- deafen
- deaf

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dēaf
- Root: *daubaz

## Etymology
Present participle of deafen ('to make deaf'), from deaf (Old English dēaf) plus -en. The base descends from Proto-Germanic *daubaz ('dull, deaf').

## AI Etymology
Deafening is the present participle of deafen ('to make deaf'), from deaf (Old English dēaf) plus -en. The base descends from Proto-Germanic *daubaz ('dull, deaf'). The ancestry passes through Old English dēaf and Proto-Germanic *daubaz. In present use as an adjective, it means "extremely loud", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include deafen and deaf; derived forms include deafeningly. Its contrast set includes quiet, faint, muffled, and inaudible, which clarifies the semantic boundary of the modern word.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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