noun
( -es )
Etymology: numb (I) + -ness
1. : reduced sensibility to touch
patients subsequently experienced a feeling of numbness … in the thighs — Journal American Medical Association
2. : reduced sensitivity to perception or emotion : stupor
a drowsy numbness pains my sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk — John Keats
slipped from her waking numbness into complete oblivion — Mary Webb