mutter

verb

mut·ter | \ ˈmə-tər

muttered; muttering; mutters

Definition of mutter

1 : to utter sounds or words indistinctly or with a low voice and with the lips partly closed … he gestured and muttered furiously in his lawyer's ear.— Tana French

2 : to murmur complainingly or angrily : grumble Some employees muttered about the changes in the pension plan.

transitive verb

: to utter especially in a low or imperfectly articulated manner muttered an apology

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Examples of mutter in a Sentence

She angrily muttered something about her bad luck. She sat practicing her speech, muttering to herself. Some employees are muttering about the changes in the pension plan.

Recent Examples on the Web

More experienced engineers stand by to help competitors who are stuck, easily spotted by their heavy sighs, rapid foot tapping, and muttered profanity. — Alexander George, Popular Mechanics, "Behind the Scenes at the Most Important Hackathon on Earth," 20 Nov. 2015 After the first game, some muttered darkly that D’Antoni Ball had become static and almost ugly. — Michael Powell, New York Times, "Rockets vs. Warriors: The Dead Live Again in Houston," 17 May 2018 Trump muttered when he was confronted with this damning revelation on his way home from Davos. — Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, "The President is “Looking Forward” to Talking to Mueller, the Guy He Wanted To Fire, and Other Bizarre Moments From Washington This Week," 28 Jan. 2018 After Sri Lanka was forced to grant China a 99-year lease on the Hambantota Port to repay Chinese loans, countries across Asia and Africa started rereading the fine print of their contracts, muttering about unequal treaties. — Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, "Imperialism Will Be Dangerous for China," 17 Sep. 2018 Men listening to her speak then started muttering, some cursing her loudly for her comments. — Jon Gambrell, Fox News, "Unease, anger in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran's beating heart," 13 Sep. 2018 Several men stride into a Kansas City store and blow themselves up, one of them — in a ghoulishly exploitative touch — pausing to mutter a prayer in Arabic and savor the dread of a woman and her young daughter. — Justin Chang, latimes.com, "Violent, self-admiring sequel 'Sicario: Day of the Soldado' gets lost in the desert," 26 June 2018 At first light, muttering insults against all unpunctual men, the 46-year-old divorced woman and her son pushed out into the unknown. — Scott Harrison, latimes.com, "From the Archives: 1987 portraits highlight L.A.'s homeless plight," 7 Mar. 2018 Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, pleaded not guilty and never testified, remaining silent or muttering incomprehensibly during the eight years of his trial. — Simon Denyer, Washington Post, "Former leader of Japanese doomsday cult hanged over 1995 sarin gas attack," 5 July 2018

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