dumb

play

adjective \ ˈdəm \

Definition of dumb

1 a :lacking the human power of speech

dumb animals

b of a person, now often offensive :lacking the ability to speak

2 :temporarily unable to speak (as from shock or astonishment)

struck dumb with fear

3 :not expressed in uttered words

dumb grief

4 :silent

they were capable of sitting for hours, dumb and unabashed, over their pipes
—Ellen Glasgow

; also :taciturn

5 :lacking some usual attribute or accompaniment; especially :having no means of self-propulsion

a dumb barge

6 a :lacking intelligence :stupid

pretended to be dumb

b :showing a lack of intelligence

asking dumb questions

a dumb look on his face

c :requiring no intelligence

dumb luck

7 :not having the capability to process data

a dumb terminal

— compare intelligent 3a

—

dumbly

play \ˈdəm-lē\ adverb

—

dumbness

noun

See dumb defined for English-language learners

See dumb defined for kids

Is the use of dumb offensive?

There is evidence that, when applied to persons who cannot speak, dumb has come to be considered offensive.

Examples of dumb in a Sentence

I'm not dumb enough to believe that.
It was a dumb idea in the first place.
He just stood there with a dumb grin on his face.
This is one of the dumbest TV shows I've ever seen.
It was dumb luck that we found this place at all.
His success is just a matter of dumb luck.
He was born deaf and dumb.

Recent Examples of dumb from the Web

Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.

— daniel jackson, Allure, "Emily Ratajkowski on Being Comfortable With Her Sexuality," 18 July 2017
The GOP should condemn Don Jr.’s actions because those actions were sleazy and dumb.

— david harsanyi, National Review, "Trump Jr.’s Meeting Might Not Rise to Treason," 14 July 2017
Every time Trump would do something dumb, Reince would be up in New York shining his shoes.

— sarah ellison, The Hive, "A Definitive Guide to the G.O.P. Insiders Enabling Donald Trump," 11 July 2017
Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.

— andy benoit, The MMQB, "pic.twitter.com/GWuJvRTLPY," 10 July 2017
Some Dumb American, for giving me the opportunity — and for demonstrating what doing it badly looks like.

— lily meade, Teen Vogue, "What Being Trolled Taught Me About Diversity," 6 July 2017
The difference between the dumb comments of the past and the inappropriate remarks of today, however, is the size of our audience.

— ana veciana-suarez, miamiherald, "The stupid — and vile — things people say on social media," 3 July 2017
Here are the top five dumb things Louisville drivers do.

— jeffrey lee puckett, The Courier-Journal, "A study says that Louisville has the 13th-best drivers in America ... Ha!," 30 June 2017
Tuco Saladonka Harambe Thank you for reading this dumb list.

— zach buchanan, Cincinnati.com, "BAR: A donkey to be named later," 29 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dumb.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of dumb

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German tumb mute

dumb Synonyms

Synonyms

silent, mum, mute, muted, speechless, uncommunicative, wordless

Antonyms

communicative, speaking, talking

Related Words

inarticulate, tongue-tied; nonvocal, voiceless; dumbstruck; sulking, sulky, sullen

Near Antonyms

articulate, eloquent, fluent, voluble, well-spoken; gabby, garrulous, loquacious, talkative, talky; outspoken, unreserved, vocal; facile, glib, silver-tongued, smooth-tongued

Synonym Discussion of dumb

stupid, dull, dense, crass, dumb mean lacking in power to absorb ideas or impressions. stupid implies a slow-witted or dazed state of mind that may be either congenital or temporary.

- stupid students just keeping the seats warm
- stupid with drink

dull suggests a slow or sluggish mind such as results from disease, depression, or shock.

- monotonous work that leaves the mind dull

dense implies a thickheaded imperviousness to ideas.

- too dense to take a hint

crass suggests a grossness of mind precluding discrimination or delicacy.

- a crass, materialistic people

dumb applies to an exasperating obtuseness or lack of comprehension.

- too dumb to figure out what's going on

dumb

verb

Definition of dumb

transitive verb

:to make silent :deaden

would lie around, dumbed by the drugs
—Norman Mailer

See dumb defined for English-language learners

Examples of dumb in a Sentence

the terrible news dumbed her for a long moment, and then she burst into tears

Recent Examples of dumb from the Web

AP tests, which are written and graded by outside experts and cannot by dumbed down by schools, reveal a gap between IDEA and BASIS, explained by their different percentages of impoverished students.

— jay mathews, Washington Post, "Downtrodden parts of Texas lead nation in challenging high school students," 26 May 2017
And are cultural institutions in danger of dumbing down in an effort to draw crowds?

— clive martin, CNN, "Crystal prisms and giant steel heads: Preserving Pink Floyd's 'Mortal Remains'," 12 May 2017
One concern has been whether doctors might have to dumb down their notes for patients, or whether patients might get too distressed by reading what their doctors say about them.

— laura landro, WSJ, "How to Get Patients to Take More Control of Their Medical Decisions," 28 Feb. 2017
The strats worried about being dumbed down, employees say, while the I.T. engineers worried about being marginalized.

— nathaniel popper, New York Times, "God: Take the Job," 1 Apr. 2016

Origin and Etymology of dumb

see ¹dumb

dumb Synonyms

Synonyms

silence, extinguish, hush, mute, quell, quiet, quieten [chiefly British], settle, shush, shut up, squelch, still

Near Antonyms

agitate, stir

DUMB Defined for Kids

dumb

play

adjective \ ˈdəm \

Definition of dumb for Students

dumber; dumbest

1 :lacking the power of human speech

dumb animals

2 often offensive :lacking the ability to speak Hint: In the past, this word was not considered offensive when used in this way. In recent years, however, many people have come to find it hurtful, and you may offend someone by using it.

3 :temporarily unable to speak (as from shock or surprise)

4 :stupid 1, foolish

There are no dumb questions.

—

dumbly

adverb

Medical Dictionary

dumb

play

adjective \ ˈdəm \

medical Definition of dumb

1 :lacking the human power of speech

dumb animals

2 of a person

often offensive :lacking the ability to speak

—

dumbly

play \ˈdəm-lē\ adverb

—

dumbness

noun

Learn More about dumb

See words that rhyme with dumb Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for dumb Spanish Central: Translation of dumb Nglish: Translation of dumb for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of dumb for Arabic speakers

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dumb

Definition of dumb

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DUMB Defined for Kids

dumb

Definition of dumb for Students

dumbly

Medical Dictionary

dumb

medical Definition of dumb

dumbly

dumbness

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