Björn Ulvaeus trauert um Ex-Frau Lena

What does “wie betäubt” mean in German?

Betäubt is the word for being numbed by a dentist or in surgery. Wie betäubt means “as if numbed”: frozen, dazed, emotions switched off. Germans reach for it right after bad news, an accident, or sudden loss — that blank moment before the real feelings arrive. In the clip, Lena uses it for walking out of a hospital after a heavy diagnosis: “Als wir herauskamen, waren wir wie betäubt.”

Spoken line: “Als wir herauskamen, waren wir wie betäubt.” — “When we came out, we were as if numbed, stunned.” “Wie” here means “as if / like”. “Betäubt” is the past participle of “betäuben” — to numb, to anaesthetise. So “wie betäubt” paints the emotional shock as a kind of numbness: your feelings are switched off, just for a while. Plain examples: - “Nach dem Anruf war sie wie betäubt.” — After the call, she was as if numb. - “Wir saßen wie betäubt da und sagten nichts.” — We sat there dazed and said nothing. - “Als ich es hörte, war ich erst wie betäubt.” — When I heard it, at first I felt numb. Usage notes: you usually hear it after bad or huge news, not for physical numbness. It describes the emotional blank that hits before the sadness comes — often paired with “erst” (at first), because the shock fades and the real feelings arrive later. That is exactly what Lena means when she says working through the news was “ein langer Prozess.”