dumb

[…] what I would have spoke

Was beastly dumbed by him.

I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.

Bad-mouthing Neanderthals . . . is symptomatic of a need to exclude and even demonize. . . . I suggest that the unproven dumbing of the Neanderthals is an example of the same cultural preconception.

The ensuing storm caused the department to lower the bar—amid protests that this was dumbing the test down—so that only 80 percent of urban kids would fail.