Dumb

• POS: Adjective

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Dumb, adj.
1 a (of a person) unable to speak, usu. because of a congenital defect or deafness. b (of an animal) naturally unable to speak (our dumb friends).
2 silenced by surprise, shyness, etc. (struck dumb by this revelation).
3 taciturn or reticent, esp. insultingly (dumb insolence).
4 (of an action etc.) performed without speech.
5 (often in comb.) giving no sound; without voice or some other property normally belonging to things of the name (a dumb piano).
6 colloq. esp. US stupid; ignorant.
7 (usu. of a class, population, etc.) having no voice in government; inarticulate (the dumb masses).
8 (of a computer terminal etc.) able only to transmit data to or receive data from a computer; not programmable (opp. INTELLIGENT).

Idiom

dumb animals animals, esp. as objects of pity. dumb-bell
1 a short bar with a weight at each end, used for exercise, muscle-building, etc.
2 sl. a stupid person, esp. a woman. dumb blonde a pretty but stupid blonde woman. dumb cluck sl. a stupid person. dumb crambo see CRAMBO. dumb-iron the curved side-piece of a motor-vehicle chassis, joining it to the front springs. dumb piano Mus. a silent or dummy keyboard.
dumb show
1 significant gestures or mime, used when words are inappropriate.
2 a part of a play in early drama, acted in mime.
dumb waiter
1 a small lift for carrying food, plates, etc., between floors.
2 a movable table, esp. with revolving shelves, used in a dining-room.

Derivative

dumbly adv. dumbness n.

Etymology

OE: orig. unkn.: sense 6 f. G dumm

THESAURUS

Dumb

Boeotian, abiotic, anaudic, animal, animalian, animalic, animalistic, aphasic, aphonic, apish, asinine, awkward, azoic, batty, beastlike, beastly, beef-brained, beef-witted, befooled, beguiled, besotted, bestial, blankminded, blockheaded, blockish, bovine, brainless, breathless, brief, brusque, brutal, brute, brutelike, brutish, buffoonish, callow, chumpish, cloddish, close, close-tongued, closemouthed, cockeyed, concise, cowish, crass, crazy, credulous, curt, daffy, daft, dazed, dense, dizzy, doltish, doting, dull, dullard, dumbfounded, dumbstricken, dumbstruck, duncical, duncish, economical of words, empty, empty-headed, exanimate, fat, fatheaded, fatuitous, fatuous, flaky, fond, fool, foolheaded, foolish, fuddled, futile, gaga, gauche, goofy, green, groping, gross, gulled, idiotic, ignorant, imbecile, inane, inanimate, inanimated, inarticulate, incoherent, indisposed to talk, indistinct, ineducable, inept, inert, inexperienced, infatuated, innocent, insane, insensate, insensible, insentient, instinctive, instinctual, klutzy, know-nothing, kooky, laconic, lifeless, loony, lumpish, mad, maudlin, maundering, mindless, moronic, mum, mute, naive, nescient, nonconscious, nonliving, nonrational, numskulled, nutty, oafish, opaque, quiet, raw, reticent, sappy, screwy, senseless, sentimental, short, silent, silly, simple, snug, sottish, soulless, sparing of words, speechless, strange to, stricken dumb, stupid, subhuman, taciturn, tentative, terse, thick, thick-witted, thoughtless, tight-lipped, tongue-tied, tongueless, unacquainted, unanimated, unapprized, uncommunicative, uncomprehending, unconscious, unconversant, unenlightened, unfamiliar, unfeeling, unilluminated, uninformed, uninitiated, unintelligent, unknowing, unloquacious, unposted, unripe, unsure, untalkative, unteachable, unversed, vacuous, voiceless, wacky, wet, witless, word-bound, wordless, wrongheaded, zoic, zooidal, zoologic

ROGET THESAURUS

Dumb

Aphony

N aphony, aphonia, dumbness, obmutescence, absence of voice, want of voice, dysphony, cacoepy, silence, raucity, harsh voice &c, unmusical voice, falsetto, childish treble mute, dummy, aphonous, dumb, mute, deafmute, deaf and dumb, mum, tongue-tied, breathless, tongueless, voiceless, speechless, wordless, mute as a fish, mute as a stockfish, mute as a mackerel, silent, muzzled, inarticulate, inaudible, croaking, raucous, hoarse, husky, dry, hollow, sepulchral, hoarse as a raven, rough, with bated breath, with the finger on the lips, sotto voce, in a low tone, in a cracked voice, in a broken voice, vox faucibus haesit.

Taciturnity

N taciturnity, silence, muteness, obmutescence, taciturnity, pauciloquy, costiveness, curtness, reserve, reticence, man of few words, silent, mute, mum, silent as a post, silent as a stone, silent as the grave, dumb, unconversable, taciturn, sparing of words, closetongued, costive, inconversable, curt, reserved, reticent, Int, shush!, tush!, silence!, mum!, hush!, chut!, hist!, tut!, chup!, mum's the word, keep your mouth shut!, cave quid dicis quando et cui, volto sciolto i pensieri stretti.