muffle

verb

muf·​fle ˈmə-fəl 

muffled; muffling ˈmə-f(ə-)liŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to wrap up so as to conceal or protect : envelop

2

obsolete : blindfold

3

a

: to wrap or pad with something to dull the sound

muffle the oarlocks

b

: to deaden the sound of

4

: keep down, suppress

muffled her anger

Synonyms

• mute
• stifle

Examples of muffle in a Sentence

They tried to muffle the noise.

I could hear their muffled voices from the next room.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Following Heath Ledger’s Joker performance in The Dark Knight was always going to be a difficult task, and this movie’s sound design (like Dunkirk’s) does Hardy a disservice by muffling so much of his dialogue as Bane through that damn mask. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025

Through new policies and aggressive cuts, the administration is taking steps that will encourage more pollution while muffling the science that shows the harms. —Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2025

Rutter suggests using a white noise generator to muffle the loud booms of the fireworks. —Kelsey Monstrola, USA Today, 24 June 2025

As of February, staffers from DOGE had pushed top-ranking officials at the Department of Education out of their offices, rearranged the furniture and set up white noise machines to muffle their voices, according to employees at the agency. —Lora Kolodny,ari Levy, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English muflen

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for muffle

• duffel
• duffle
• ruffle
• scuffle
• shuffle
• truffle
• reshuffle

Kids Definition

muffle

verb

muf·​fle ˈməf-əl 

muffled; muffling ˈməf-(ə-)liŋ 

1

: to wrap up so as to conceal or protect

2

: to deaden the sound of

muffle a cry