1
as in speechless
unable to speak
the child is both deaf and mute because her hearing was lost at birth
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in silent
deliberately refraining from speech
remained mute no matter how much we pleaded for an answer
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as in quieter
a device on a musical instrument that deadens or softens its tone
I was practicing my trumpet at three in the morning when the mute fell out, and I managed to wake everyone up
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1
2
as in to muffle
to deaden the sound of
closing the windows muted the traffic noise so we could get to sleep
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Examples of mute in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Rachel Martin, NPR, 19 Sep. 2024
The new look to these iPhones includes a feature from the iPhone 15 Pro: the mute/ring switch on every regular iPhone until now has been replaced with the more adaptable Action Button which can be used for all sorts of things, including muting the ring.
—David Phelan, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2021
Lenin, too, suffered from manic rage and erratic behavior, and died in his early fifties confined to a wheelchair after multiple strokes left him mute and paralyzed.
—Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 1 Apr. 2016
Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2024
In what has been considered largely civil for the first and only vice-presidential debate of the 2024 election, a heated argument resulted in both Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance's microphones being temporarily muted.
—Riley Hoffman, ABC News, 1 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mute 
Adjective
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a great example where Will Sampson, who's from my tribe, plays the sort of mute Indian in it who actually isn't mute, who's tricking everyone.
—Rachel Martin, NPR, 19 Sep. 2024
The new look to these iPhones includes a feature from the iPhone 15 Pro: the mute/ring switch on every regular iPhone until now has been replaced with the more adaptable Action Button which can be used for all sorts of things, including muting the ring.
—David Phelan, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
Noun
Idealizing the beauty of the bucolic landscape often minimizes the labor tied to it, and so Yu disrupts any sense of the natural world as mute and pleasant.
—Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2021
Lenin, too, suffered from manic rage and erratic behavior, and died in his early fifties confined to a wheelchair after multiple strokes left him mute and paralyzed.
—Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 1 Apr. 2016
Verb
At the top of the debate, CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan could mute the mics to maintain decorum.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2024
In what has been considered largely civil for the first and only vice-presidential debate of the 2024 election, a heated argument resulted in both Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance's microphones being temporarily muted.
—Riley Hoffman, ABC News, 1 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mute
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mute.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Mute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mute. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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