adjective
- inertly heavy like lead; hard to lift or move: a leaden weight; leaden feet.
- dull, spiritless, or gloomy, as in mood or thought: leaden prose; a leaden atmosphere.
- of a dull gray color: leaden skies.
- oppressive; heavy: a leaden silence.
- sluggish; listless: They moved at a leaden pace.
- of poor quality or little value.
- made or consisting of lead.
verb (used with object)
- to make leaden, sluggish, dull, etc.: Fatigue had leadened his brain and step.
adjective
- heavy and inert
- laboured or sluggishleaden steps
- gloomy, spiritless, or lifeless
- made partly or wholly of lead
- of a dull greyish coloura leaden sky
adj.“made of lead,” Old English leaden, from lead (n.1) + -en (2). The figurative sense of “heavy, oppressive, dull” is attested by 1570s. Related: Leadenly; leadenness.