Synonyms for mute
- adjective
- verb
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Voiceless — silent; not making a sound
silent, voiceless, inarticulate, taciturn, wordless, speechless, unspoken, tongueless, aphonic
Verb
Noun
Definitions
- adj. 1
Silent; not making a sound.
- v. 1
To silence, to make quiet.
- n. 1
A stopped consonant; a stop.
Choose the right word
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
- voiceless Dutch has both voiced and voiceless consonants.
- wordless A painting is a wordless poem.
- taciturn Mary's partner is a taciturn person.
- inarticulate He became inarticulate after just a couple of beers.
- dumb Do you want to help me or just make dumb comments?
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| mute | rising | |
| voiceless | steady | |
| wordless | rising | |
| taciturn | rising | |
| inarticulate | steady | |
| dumb | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- mom1, mum1
- 4 letters
- stop1, dumb1, dull1, damp1
- 5 letters
- still1, dummy2
- 6 letters
- silent2, soften2, subdue2, stifle2, dampen2, muffle2, deaden2
- 7 letters
- silence2, plosive2, aphonic
- 8 letters
- suppress2, unspoken3, wordless2, taciturn3, aphonous
- 9 letters
- voiceless2, occlusive
- 10 letters
- speechless2, tongueless
- 12 letters
- inarticulate5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (dummy2 = 2 syllables).