mum
4 of 5chiefly British spelling of mom
Synonyms
Examples of mum in a Sentence
Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 10 Nov. 2023
No word on Williams Stevens was similarly mum on Grant Williams’s status as a restricted free agent.
—Adam Himmelsbach, BostonGlobe.com, 1 June 2023
Cincinnati’s front office has been completely mum about the negotiations as part of an agreement with Burrow’s camp to keep the details secret.
—Mohammad Ahmad, cleveland, 26 July 2023
Lawmakers so far have been mum about any legislative fixes.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 27 May 2023
Ed Sheeran, who is relatively mum about his private life, is going behind-the-music in his new Disney+ docuseries, touching on subjects like grief, mental health, love and loss.
—Mesfin Fekadu, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 May 2023
DeSantis has been uncharacteristically mum about the situation.
—Maggie Angst, Anchorage Daily News, 6 June 2023
Since then, the Blazers have been largely mum on Payton’s situation other than coach Chauncey Billups stating that numerous times that Payton was dealing with core soreness following workouts.
—oregonlive, 22 Dec. 2022
City officials confirmed a new clinic was set to open this year but wouldn’t say where, and some clinic operators stayed publicly mum about their plans.
—Chris Kenning, USA Today, 4 June 2023
Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2023
Lucid is still mum on many tech details, but executives said the Gravity would hew closely to the Air’s power-train choices and specifications, which currently include Grand Touring, Touring, and Pure models.
—IEEE Spectrum, 18 Nov. 2023
Women’s humanitarian organizations have been mum on Hamas’s extreme violence against Israel’s innocents, as the terrorist group rapes, abducts, and murders Jewish women and children.
—Haley Strack, National Review, 24 Oct. 2023
In North Texas, seemingly no one keeps mum about the fall phenomenon.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 6 Oct. 2023
The illness that your poor mum died from is called Hellp.
—Hazlitt, 8 Nov. 2023
While speaking to the media in Frankfurt, Germany, ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs' upcoming game against the Miami Dolphins, the NFL star, 34, stayed mum when asked if Swift, 33, would be in attendance.
—Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 4 Nov. 2023
Historically, both have kept mum on the topic, save for criticizing the other.
—Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 3 Nov. 2023
And Apple is famous for keeping mum about its future product plans.
—Rachyl Jones, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Adjective
Middle English mom, momme, probably imitative of a sound made with closed lips
Verb
Middle English mommen, to mumble, perform (a mummer's play), probably in part from mom, in part from Middle French momer to go masked
Noun (1)
German Mumme
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun (1)
circa 1623, in the meaning defined above
Noun
1891, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing mum
Dictionary Entries Near mum
Cite this Entry
“Mum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mum. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
mum
1 of 3 adjectivemum
2 of 3 nounmum
3 of 3chiefly British variant of mom
More from Merriam-Webster on mum
Nglish: Translation of mum for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of mum for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about mum
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