Literary notes about benumbed (AI summary)
Writers employ "benumbed" to capture a state where both body and mind become unresponsive, often as a result of physical extremes or emotional overwhelm. It is frequently used to depict characters whose limbs, senses, or entire faculties are dulled by cold or fatigue—as when the biting chill renders someone almost unable to stand [1], or leaves their fingers and cheeks inexplicably immobile [2]. At times, the term extends into the psychological realm, illustrating how overwhelming grief or numb despair can paralyze one’s mental responsiveness [3], [4]. In this way, "benumbed" becomes a versatile term that conveys both literal physical insensibility and a deeper, metaphorical detachment from feeling.
- Upon reaching the shore, his limbs would be so chilled and benumbed that he could scarcely stand.
— from The Adventures of the Chevalier De La Salle and His Companions, in Their Explorations of the Prairies, Forests, Lakes, and Rivers, of the New World, and Their Interviews with the Savage Tribes, Two Hundred Years Ago by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott - Finishing, they ran into the house with benumbed fingers and cheeks aflame.
— from The Automobile Girls at Chicago; Or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds by Laura Dent Crane - Her mind is benumbed by the presence of an idea confessedly too great to be grasped.
— from The Idea of God as Affected by Modern Knowledge by John Fiske - He felt only an ache of soul and body, his whole being, memory, will, understanding, flesh, benumbed and weary.
— from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
