to feel numb
—| C1 (advanced) |—
In North American English, this expression typically means:
to temporarily lose the ability to sense touch due to a lack of healthy blood circulation in your body (see example 1)
to be so overwhelmed that you cannot identify what emotions you are experiencing (see example 2)
EXAMPLES:
“I’ve been shovelling the driveway and sidewalks for the past 40 minutes and I am still not done. I feel completely numb; I can barely move my fingers in my gloves.”
“Well, of course you feel numb! It is -30 C out! You need to come back inside to warm up. The shovelling can be finished later.”
“With her starting a new job, taking care of her kids and her retired parents, while also planning to immigrate with her family to Canada, she is just too overwhelmed to take on another responsibility right now; she feels too numb to make connections with others, so I don’t think volunteering at a rec centre for at-risk youth is a very good idea at the moment. She needs time to sort out her thoughts, find some balance and relax.”
Have you ever felt numb? Why? What did you do to feel better? Let me know in the comments below.
ASSOCIATED WORDS:
Some synonyms of “to feel numb” include:
Definition 1
to not be able to feel + body part
to have lost feeling of + body part (slightly more formal)
Definition 2
to not know how you feel
to be [too] overwhelmed
to not feel anything
to feel nothing
to feel empty