stultify

• POS: Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: stul=ti=fy

CIDE DICTIONARY

stultify, v. t. [L. stultus foolish + -fy.].

•  To make foolish; to make a fool of; as, to stultify one by imposition; to stultify one's self by silly reasoning or conduct.  Burke.  [1913 Webster]
•  To regard as a fool, or as foolish.  [1913 Webster]

  "The modern sciolist stultifies all understanding but his own, and that which he conceives like his own."  Hazlitt.  [1913 Webster]
•  To allege or prove to be of unsound mind, so that the performance of some act may be avoided.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

stultify, v.tr. (-ies, -ied)
1 make ineffective, useless, or futile, esp. as a result of tedious routine (stultifying boredom).
2 cause to appear foolish or absurd.
3 negate or neutralize.

Derivative

stultification n. stultifier n.

Etymology

LL stultificare f. L stultus foolish

THESAURUS

stultify

annul, asphyxiate, befool, bottle up, bring to nothing, buffer, cancel, cancel out, censor, check, choke off, clamp down on, come to nothing, constipate, cork, cork up, counterbalance, crack down on, crush, damp down, deaden, discourage, drown, dull, dupe, enfeeble, extinguish, frustrate, gag, gull, hold down, impair, infatuate, inhibit, invalidate, jump on, keep down, keep under, kill, muzzle, negate, negativate, negative, neutralize, nullify, offset, pour water on, put down, put on, quash, quell, quench, repress, restrain, shut down on, silence, sit down on, sit on, smash, smother, squash, squelch, stagnate, stanch, stifle, strangle, stunt, subdue, suffocate, suppress, throttle, thwart, trammel, undo, vitiate, void, weaken

ROGET THESAURUS

stultify

Counteraction

VB counteract, run counter, clash, cross, interfere with, conflict with, contravene, jostle, go against, run against, beat against, militate against, stultify, antagonize, block, oppose, traverse, withstand, hinder, repress, react, undo, neutralize, counterpoise, overpoise.