dumb (dʌm
)
Definitions
adjective
- lacking the power to speak, either because of defects in the vocal organs or because of hereditary deafness
- lacking the power of human speech ⇒
dumb animals
- temporarily lacking or bereft of the power to speak ⇒
struck dumb
- refraining from speech; uncommunicative
- producing no sound; silent ⇒
a dumb piano
- made, done, or performed without speech
- informal
- slow to understand; dim-witted
- foolish; stupid See also dumb down
- (of a projectile or bomb) not guided to its target
Alternative Forms
ˈdumbly adverb ˈdumbness nounWord Origin
Old English; related to Old Norse dumbr, Gothic dumbs, Old High German tumpSynonyms
View thesaurus entry=
silent,
mute,
speechless,
inarticulate,
tongue-tied,
wordless,
voiceless,
soundless,
at a loss for words
mum,
Translations
- British English:
dumb
Someone who is dumb is completely unable to speak....a young deaf and dumb man.dʌm ADJECTIVE ...a young deaf and dumb man.
- Spanish:
mudo
adj muda
- French:
muet
adj
- German:
stumm
adj
- Chinese: 哑的 adj
- Arabic: أبْكَم adj
- Portuguese: mudo adj muda
- Russian: немой adj немая
- Croatian: nijem adj nijema
- Czech: němý adj
- Danish: stum adj
- Dutch: dom adj
- Finnish: mykkä adj
- Greek: μουγγός adj μουγγή
- Italian: stupido adj stupida
- Japanese: 口のきけない no_posp
- Korean: 말을 못하는 adj
- Norwegian: stum adj
- Polish: niemy adj niema
- Brazilian Portuguese: mudo adj muda
- European Spanish:
mudo
adj muda
- Swedish: stum adj stumt
- Thai: โง่ adj
- Turkish: dilsiz adj
- Vietnamese: câm adj
Usage examples
And first, I'm goin' to show you just how dumb convicts are not.
, Stone City (1990)And now he's calling international credit rating agencies dumb.
Business Today (2001)Otherwise, it's all idle chat and dumb stunts on the street.
Globe and Mail (2003)From the old and wise to the young, dumb and full of reckless curiosity about the occult.
Glasgow Herald (2002)The limited mind-set, reinforced by others, comes up with a really dumb solution!
, Your One Week Way to Mind-Fitness (1994)