mute

1 of 4

adjective

muter; mutest
1
: unable to speak : lacking the power of speech
2
: characterized by absence of speech: such as
a
: felt or experienced but not expressed
touched her hand in mute sympathy
her mute hostility
b
: refusing to plead directly or stand trial
the prisoner stands mute
3
: remaining silent, undiscovered, or unrecognized
The hounds generally hunt mute, so they can get close to the game.
4
a
: contributing nothing to the pronunciation of a word
the b in plumb is mute
b
: contributing to the pronunciation of a word but not representing the nucleus of a syllable
the e in mate is mute
mutely adverb
muteness noun

mute

2 of 4

noun

plural mutes
1
: a device attached to or inserted into a musical instrument to soften or alter its tone
2
3
dated, offensive : a person who lacks the ability to speak

mute

3 of 4

verb (1)

muted; muting

transitive verb

1
: to muffle, reduce, or eliminate the sound of
2
: to tone down : soften, subdue
mute a color

mute

4 of 4

verb (2)

muted; muting

intransitive verb

of a bird
: to evacuate the cloaca

Examples of mute in a Sentence

Adjective They hugged each other in mute sympathy. I could see a mute plea for help in his eyes. Noun I was practicing my trumpet at three in the morning when the mute fell out, and I managed to wake everyone up.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Please check back again soon for the recorded video. LIVE VIDEO TO BEGIN AFTER AD Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Use up and down arrows to change volume, and spacebar or enter to toggle mute. Will Knight, WIRED, 11 Jan. 2024 Still, something in the young woman responds with pity to the mute, scared child, and when Vivian’s stepmother takes off laughingly in a car with some boys, Christine walks her home, pulling her into her own coat to keep warm. Joanna Biggs, Harper's Magazine, 10 Jan. 2024 The mute switch remains on the iPhone 15 Plus (pictured) and iPhone 15. Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 29 Sep. 2023 What celebrities have participated in Beyoncé’s mute challenge? Kelsie Gibson, Peoplemag, 8 Sep. 2023 While not all were outliers, many spent years attacking the overuse studies and the researchers behind them and wielding influence to mute reforms. Annie Waldman, ProPublica, 12 Dec. 2023 Considering iPhone usage has changed a lot since the iPhone debuted 16 years ago, revisiting a hallmark feature like the mute button was only a matter of time, according to the company. Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN, 19 Sep. 2023 These mute functions should also work on other apps such as FaceTime, Snapchat, and WhatsApp. Joe Hindy, PCMAG, 18 Sep. 2023 After Beyoncé’s 56-stop Renaissance World Tour, the queen finally took us all off of mute. Essence, 24 Oct. 2023
Noun
After accidentally starting a wildfire, 7-year-old Lu, mute and from an abusive home, slyly tricks Merribelle, a hardworking trans woman, into kidnapping her — sparking a beautifully unexpected bond with a devastating expiration date. Vulture, 12 Dec. 2022 After accidentally starting a wildfire, 7-year-old Lu, mute and from an abusive home, slyly tricks Merribelle, a hardworking trans woman, into kidnapping her – sparking a beautifully unexpected bond with a devastating expiration date. Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Dec. 2022 Aminatta had come to Kissy from a crowded low-income neighborhood in the city, mute and immobile with a depression that had never been treated. New York Times, 11 Apr. 2022 Don’t be the miming mute everyone is tired of reminding. Stacey Hanke, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2021 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 Other nice-to-have features include some ruggedness in the design, so the phone doesn’t need a case, IP68 water, and dust resistance, a hardware mute switch, and eSIM support. Chris Smith, BGR, 18 May 2022 In the other courtroom, Brooks could be seen speaking to himself and making hand gestures while on mute. Eric Levenson and Rebekah Riess, CNN, 6 Oct. 2022
Verb
Partisan differences are muted: A third of Republicans and Democrats alike say the American dream still holds true, as do a quarter of independents. Gary Langer, ABC News, 15 Jan. 2024 Some Fed officials at the December 2018 meeting expressed reservations about continuing to raise rates as the global economic mood seemed to be darkening while U.S. inflation remained muted. Bob Fernandez, WSJ, 12 Jan. 2024 So far the response has been muted, with just a single anti-ship missile lobbed harmlessly into the Red Sea, far from any passing vessel, a Pentagon official told reporters earlier on Friday. Ronen Bergman, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2024 But the community reaction in Kern County has been mostly muted. Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2023 Reaction has been muted as legislators await more details of the plan. Teo Armus, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2023 But overall, the public discussion of this has been largely muted compared with the outrage when Govs. Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Nov. 2023 But Shein is filing for an IPO at a time when demand for public offerings has been muted, Saunders noted. Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 28 Nov. 2023 For a matchup as hyped as this, with the program’s first sellout and the first time UCLA and USC had played each other as undefeated teams, the UCLA celebration was muted. Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2023
Verb
Some days, Aalayah Eastmond asks friends to mute the television so the sound of gunshots won’t frighten her. Sun Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2023 Facebook attempted to mute the majority of political posts in its efforts to avoid controversy, according to internal documents. Christopher Hutton, Washington Examiner, 5 Jan. 2023 Tap that to mute yourself. WIRED, 28 Oct. 2022 Other new features will be added in addition to the screen time limits, such as a weekly recap of time in the app, and added parental controls that can mute notifications and provide additional information on app usage. Julia Landwehr, Health, 8 Mar. 2023 The platform is also expanding Family Pairing, and will allow parents to filter out certain words and hashtags, set screen time limits and set schedules to mute TikTok notifications. Morgan Sung, NBC News, 1 Mar. 2023 The ability to mute or play two sounds at once is a valuable feature. Nancy Jo Adams, Popular Mechanics, 16 Feb. 2023 Finally, the cameraman, stuck inside a tiny booth designed to mute the sound of the camera, dies of heatstroke. Vulture, 31 Jan. 2023 In July, the Austin American-Statesman published two versions of a surveillance video from the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex., that left 19 children and two adults dead in May — but decided to mute the sound of children screaming. Jeremy Barr, Washington Post, 28 Jan. 2023 See More

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.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective, Noun, and Verb (1)

Middle English muet, mut, from Anglo-French, from mu, mute, from Latin mutus, probably from mu, representation of a muttered sound

Verb (2)

Middle English, from Anglo-French *meutir, short for ameutir, alteration of Old French esmeltir, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch smelten to melt, make fluid, defecate (of birds)

First Known Use

Adjective

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb (1)

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mute was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near mute

Cite this Entry

“Mute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mute. Accessed 28 Jan. 2024.

Kids Definition

mute

1 of 3 adjective
muter; mutest
1
: unable to speak
2
: felt but not expressed in words
mute sympathy
3
: not pronounced : silent
the mute "b" in "thumb"
mutely adverb
muteness noun

mute

2 of 3 noun
1
: a person who cannot or does not speak
2
: a device attached to or inserted into a musical instrument to reduce, soften, or muffle its tone
3

mute

3 of 3 verb
muted; muting
1
: to muffle or reduce the sound of
2
: to tone down
muted his criticism

Medical Definition

mute

1 of 2 adjective
muter; mutest
: unable to speak : lacking the power of speech
muteness noun

mute

2 of 2 noun
dated, offensive : a person who lacks the ability to speak

More from Merriam-Webster on mute

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