deadening
    adj 1: so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a
           boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the deadening
           effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play"; "his
           competent but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker who
           couldn't capture their attention"; "what an irksome task
           the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke; "tedious
           days on the train"; "the tiresome chirping of a cricket"-
           Mark Twain; "other people's dreams are dreadfully
           wearisome" [syn: boring, deadening, dull, ho-hum,
           irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome]
    n 1: the act of making something futile and useless (as by
         routine) [syn: stultification, constipation,
         impairment, deadening]

deadening \dead"en*ing\ adj. [p. pr. of verb deaden[3].]
   Rendering less lively, intense, or vigorous; as, the
   deadening effect of some routine tasks.
   [WordNet 1.5]

   2. So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; as,
      the deadening effect of some routine tasks.

   Syn: boring, dreary, ho-hum, irksome, tedious, tiresome,
        wearisome.
        [WordNet 1.5]

Deaden \Dead"en\ (d[e^]d"'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deadened
   (d[e^]d"'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Deadening.] [From Dead; cf.
   AS. d?dan to kill, put to death. See Dead, a.]
   1. To make as dead; to impair in vigor, force, activity, or
      sensation; to lessen the force or acuteness of; to blunt;
      as, to deaden the natural powers or feelings; to deaden a
      sound.
      [1913 Webster]

            As harper lays his open palm
            Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations.
                                                  --Longfellow.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To lessen the velocity or momentum of; to retard; as, to
      deaden a ship's headway.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To make vapid or spiritless; as, to deaden wine.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To deprive of gloss or brilliancy; to obscure; as, to
      deaden gilding by a coat of size.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To render impervious to sound, as a wall or floor; to
      deafen.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

deadening \dead"en*ing\ n.
   The act of making something futile and useless (as by
   routine).

   Syn: stultification, impairment.
        [WordNet 1.5]