mute

1 of 4

adjective

ˈmyüt 

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

: stop entry 2 sense 9

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

covered their ears to mute the sounds of the chainsaw

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

Synonyms of mute

Adjective

• speechless
• silent

Noun

• quieter
• damper

Verb (1)

• silence
• shush
• quiet
• dumb
• hush
• settle

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.

Verb (1)

muted the television while she was on the phone

closing the windows muted the traffic noise so we could get to sleep

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Until a 2008 surgery helped many of the symptoms, Adams was nearly mute because of it. —People Staff, PEOPLE, 13 Jan. 2026

The town council stepped in and two months after the Board of Education went mute, named the high school gym after Harris. —Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 10 Jan. 2026

Noun

Additional features include one-touch mute for up to 10 hours, micro-mesh insect protection, soft night lighting to minimize disturbance, and bilingual English and French voice alerts for multilingual households. —New Atlas, 25 Dec. 2025

The mutes, the dropouts, the sense that an idea had sprung from the artist’s chest, been scrambled into code, then reassembled in a fugue. —Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 8 Dec. 2025

Verb

If the Federal Reserve either decreases the amount of money that’s in circulation or reins in the pace at which the money supply expands, those actions tend to mute consumer demand for goods and services. —George Avalos, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026

The white Carrara marble building will contrast with Mayner’s sculpturally rounded silhouettes done in a rich, but muted, palette of browns, navy blues, grays and occasional pops of zingy colors, including purple, Klein blue, flashy green and mirror silver. —Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 13 Jan. 2026

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

Phrases Containing mute

• mute swan

Rhymes for mute

• beaut
• boot
• bruit
• brut
• brute
• chute
• coot
• cute
• flute
• fruit
• hoot
• jute

Kids Definition

mute

1 of 3 adjective

ˈmyüt 

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

offensive : a person who cannot or does not speak

—used especially in the past

2

: a device attached to or inserted into a musical instrument to reduce, soften, or muffle its tone

3

: stop entry 2 sense 9

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

ˈmyüt 

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