See Also: leaden(1)(dictionary)
leaden(2)(dictionary)
leaden(dictionary)

leaden(1) (iou)



leaden adjective. OE.
[from LEAD noun1 + -EN4.]
1. Consisting or made of lead. OE.
E. Young Night..stretches forth Her leaden sceptre o'er a slumb'ring world.
2. Of a cold dull grey colour. LME.
leaden fly-catcher a small grey-green Australasian fly-catcher, Myiagra rubecula.
S. J. Perelman It was the season of the southwest monsoon, marked by leaden, overcast skies.
3. transf. & fig.
a. Of base quality or composition; of little value. L16.
C. Marlowe Base leaden Earles, that glory in your birth.
b. Weighing like lead; oppressively burdensome or numbing. Of the limbs: hard to drag along, moving slowly and heavily. L16.
Pope Leaden slumbers press his drooping eyes. O. Manning The heat now had a leaden weight so even the flies were stilled.
c. Lacking animation; inert, spiritless, depressing. L16.
Opera Now Some of the chorus singing..is ill-defined and leaden.
leadenly adverb L19.
leadenness [-n-n-] noun E17.