defeatingly

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

defeating +‎ -ly

Adverb[edit]

defeatingly (not comparable)

  1. So as to defeat, or frustrate progress.
    • 2006, Reuben Hersh, 18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics, page 97:
      Mathematics is cognitively difficult, technical, abstract, and (for many) defeatingly impersonal: one needs, it seems, to have been inside the dressing room in order to make much sense of the play.
    • 2012, Paula Rae Wallace, The Andersons, page 298:
      It seemed defeatingly solid, but the metal building attaching to the frame seemed rusty and fatigued. He pressed against it, and it seemed like it would give way easily.