dumb

Study(23)

/dʌm/

adj 7verb 4adv 1noun 1

Collocations

(adj.) unable to speak

VERBS

become, be struck

When the teacher announced the surprise field trip, the entire class became dumb with excitement.

PREP

with

He was dumb with shock when he heard the news about the accident.

PHRASES

deaf and dumb

(adj.) stupid

VERBS

be, feel, look, seem, sound

He felt dumb when he couldn't remember his own password during the meeting.

act, play

When the teacher asked a difficult question, Maria played dumb to avoid giving a wrong answer.

ADV

really, very | pretty, rather

Definitions

adj

Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

deaf, dumb, and blind

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

Not talkative; taciturn or unwilling to speak.

Having no input or voice in running things.

Life was never a May-game for men; in all times the lot of the dumb-millions born to toil was defaced with manifold sufferings, injustices, heavy burdens, avoidable and unavoidable; not play at all, but hard work that made the sinews sore, and the heart sore.

Unaccompanied by words or speech, silent, wordless.

dumb show

Since you are tongue-tied and so loath to speak In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts

Not producing any sound, silent.

[…] Thro’ lands where not a leaf was dumb; ⁠But all the lavish hills would hum The murmur of a happy Pan: […]

verb

To silence.

[…] what I would have spoke Was beastly dumbed by him.

The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.

To make stupid.

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

To represent as stupid.

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.

To reduce the intellectual demands of.

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.

adv

Very, extremely.

"What, you don't like your food?" Russo asks. ¶ "Are you kidding? It's dumb good."

Yo this shit is crazy how these females are making these doctors rich. My baby moms Miracle is getting surgery in a week or so. She's flying out to Colombia. That shit really baffles me as far as she's concerned, because Miracle is already dumb thick. I'm like damn ma, how big do you want your ass to be?

Thesaurus

Synonyms

adjective — unable to speak because of hereditary deafness

adjective — temporarily incapable of speaking

speechless

adjective — slow to learn or understand

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

dumb down

To convey some subject matter in simple terms, avoiding technical or academic language, especially in a way that is considered condescending.

The public won't understand this concept. We need to dumb down our explanation of it.

a dumb priest never got a parish

Those who fail to speak up will fail to get what they desire.

play dumb

To pretend to be dumb, either:

I played dumb 'cause I knew if I talked at all, being simple and guileless, you all would twist me up and have the whole thing in a jiffy.

dumb shit

Alternative spelling of dumbshit.

dumb as a post

Utterly mute; lacking the ability to speak.

Example Bank

deaf, dumb, and blind

Wiktionary

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

Wiktionary

to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures

Wiktionary

[…] what I would have spoke Was beastly dumbed by him.

Wiktionary

The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.

Wiktionary

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

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, dumb is marked as dated, archaic. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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