Link Centre Dictionary

leaden

lea·den

UK/ˈlɛdən/ US/ˈlɛdʌn/ fairly common

adjective

1.

darkened with overcast

  • “a dark day”
  • “a dull sky”
  • “a gray rainy afternoon”
  • “gray clouds”
  • “the sky was leaden and thick”
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2.

made heavy or weighted down with weariness

  • “his leaden arms”
  • “weighted eyelids”
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3.

(of movement) slow and laborious

  • “leaden steps”
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4.

lacking lightness or liveliness

  • “heavy humor”
  • “a leaden conversation”
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Origin

From Middle English leden, leaden, from Old English lēaden (“leaden, of lead”). Cognate with West Frisian leaden (“leaden”), Dutch loden (“leaden”). By surface analysis, lead + -en.

Phrases

  • fly with leaden wings
  • leaden flycatcher
  • with leaden wings

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.