lead·en

[led-n]
adjective
1.
inertly heavy like lead; hard to lift or move: a leaden weight; leaden feet.
2.
dull, spiritless, or gloomy, as in mood or thought: leaden prose; a leaden atmosphere.
3.
of a dull gray color: leaden skies.
4.
oppressive; heavy: a leaden silence.
5.
sluggish; listless: They moved at a leaden pace.
6.
of poor quality or little value.
7.
made or consisting of lead.
verb (used with object)
8.
to make leaden, sluggish, dull, etc.: Fatigue had leadened his brain and step.
00:10
Leaden is one of our favorite verbs.
So is fletcherise. Does it mean:
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English leden, Old English lēaden. See lead2, -en2

lead·en·ly, adverb
lead·en·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
leaden (ˈlɛdən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  heavy and inert
2.  laboured or sluggish: leaden steps
3.  gloomy, spiritless, or lifeless
4.  made partly or wholly of lead
5.  of a dull greyish colour: a leaden sky
 
'leadenly
 
adv
 
'leadenness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

leaden
Adjective form of lead (n.); a relic of O.E., which formed adjs. meaning "made of ______" by adding -en to nouns. The figurative sense of "heavy, oppressive, dull" is first attested 1570s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The sun again forsook them, and again from leaden skies the snow-flakes were
  sifted over the land.
The essential first step is to remove the leaden overhang of non-tradable
  shares.
And through the shower of leaden hail our boys take deadly aim.
The tempos are leaden, and the arrangements downright predictable.
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