EN

Synonyms for dumb

  • adjective
  • adverb

Most common

silly ignorant idiotic moronic

Synonyms by meaning

Adjective

1. Stupid

stupid, silly, ignorant, idiotic, foolish, moronic, brainless, unintelligent, slow, dopey, ridiculous, empty-headed, daft, dull, goofy informal US CA, uninformed, witless, inane, obtuse, dense, simple, mindless

2. Vulgar — pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value

vulgar, banal

3. Mute — unable to speak; lacking power of speech

mute, silent, speechless, inarticulate, still, wordless

Adverb

mad, wicked, type, bare, hella slang, odee slang

Antonyms

smart, intelligent, bright

All antonyms of dumb →

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

    Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

    His younger brother was born dumb, and communicated with sign language.

  2. adj. 2

    Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.

    Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.

  3. adj. 3

    Having no input or voice in running things.

  4. adv. 1

    Very, extremely.

Related words

Phrases
strike dumb dumb down dumb cluck dumb blonde dumb fuck dumb fucker dumb bomb dumb show

From weakest to strongest

  1. brainy
  2. intelligent
  3. smart
  4. dumb
  5. silly
  6. ignorant
  7. foolish
  8. idiotic
  9. moronic
  10. brainless

From the opposite of dumb, on the left, to its strongest synonyms, on the right.

Choose the right word

Dumb, Mute, Silent, Speechless or Taciturn?

Dumb, mute, silent and speechless refer to fact or state; taciturn refers to habit and disposition.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • silly Tom gets confused and says silly things sometimes.
  • ignorant Not only you but also he is ignorant of the truth.
  • idiotic It's the most idiotic thing I've seen in my life.
  • moronic Unplug from the retarded corpus of mankind. What bunch of moronic cunts!

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
dumbrising
sillyrising
ignorantsteady
idioticrising
moronicrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters
mad1
4 letters
type1, slow1, bare1, dull1, mute1, daft1, odee
5 letters
still1, silly2, dense1, goofy2, hella, banal2, dopey2, inane2
6 letters
simple2, stupid2, silent2, wicked2, vulgar2, obtuse2
7 letters
foolish2, idiotic4, moronic, witless2
8 letters
ignorant3, mindless2, wordless2
9 letters
brainless2
10 letters
ridiculous4, speechless2, uninformed3
12 letters
inarticulate5
13 letters
unintelligent

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (silly2 = 2 syllables).