1
a
: making no utterance : not speaking or making noise
He was silent for a full minute, as he often is when answering a hard question.—
Nick Seitz
Nick SeitzThey all fell silent, looking rather scared.—J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
b
: tending to speak very little : not loquacious
As a former silent person, part of me gravitates to talkers.—Georgia Brown
Georgia BrownWhen ABC's promos boast the crime unit portrayed here is not "your father's FBI," it's insinuating that dad's FBI agents were balding, nerdy guys or the stereotypical strong, silent types.—Ken Parish Perkins
Ken Parish Perkins2
: free from sound or noise : still
The house was eerily silent.
3
: performed or borne without utterance : unspoken
silent prayer
silent grief
4
a
: making no mention
history is silent about this person
b
: not widely or generally known or appreciated
the silent pressures on a person in public office
c
: making no protest or outcry
the silent majority
5
: unpronounced
the silent b in doubt
6
medical
a(1)
: not exhibiting or producing the usual signs or symptoms of presence
silent urinary tract infections
A "silent stroke" has none of the warning signs of a larger stroke: severe headaches, dizziness, loss of motor skills. Often victims do not realize they have had strokes.—Alisha Berger
Alisha Berger
(2)
: relating to or being an infectious disease or pathogen that spreads undetected within a population
Chlamydia can cause fertility problems for women, but is generally asymptomatic, meaning the infection presents no immediate symptoms, said Dr. James Gaskell, health commissioner for the Athens City-County Health Department. As a result, it spreads quickly in dense populations like college campuses, he said. "It's a silent spreader, if you will," Gaskell said.—Sam Howard
Sam Howard
b
: being, involving, or caused by an asymptomatic or presymptomatic infectious individual
silent spread/transmission of contagious disease
Since a novel coronavirus first made its presence known in China, public health officials around the world have had one fervent hope: That people who are infected but not sick would pass the virus to others only rarely. That would give these silent spreaders no more than a bit part in driving a global outbreak. That hope is in danger of being dashed.—Melissa Healy
Melissa Healy7
a
: made without spoken dialogue
silent movies
b
: of or relating to silent movies
silently
adverb
silentness
noun
: a motion picture made without spoken dialogue
—usually used in plural
Synonyms
Examples of silent in a Sentence
Adjective
She was silent for a few minutes as she thought about how to answer him.
The crowd fell silent as the horrible news was read aloud.
My father was a very silent man.
He was the strong, silent type.
He said he would call me, but the phone was silent all day.
A long, silent pause followed her reply.
Recent Examples on the WebJ. Kim Murphy, Variety, 20 Apr. 2024
When your symptoms persist and don't respond to antihistamines or other allergy treatments, silent reflux may be responsible.
—Dwyer Frame, Health, 19 Apr. 2024
He is driven 20 miles from his jail cell to the courthouse every weekday morning, to bear silent witness to one of the most complex racketeering cases in Georgia’s history.
—Herb Scribner, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024
Among those are a function button, an AF/MF toggle switch, and an aperture ring that swaps between third-stop detents and silent continuous control via a switch.
—PCMAG, 16 Apr. 2024
Thirty-five languages were spoken in Grenfell Tower, a fact memorialized on mosaic tiles embedded in sidewalks marking the route of a silent walk that is taken by some survivors on the fourteenth of every month.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Freemantle’s team crafted quiet moments early on in the film to prepare audiences for the sharp contrasts that would continue, including a spot in the first half of the movie that goes silent after the leads drive together to reach a protest.
—Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Apr. 2024
Times editorial board: The L.A. County Board of Supervisors’ silent sign-off on a $25-million payout fails the accountability test.
—Vanessa Franko, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Their abrupt arrival at Eva’s brother, who runs a veterinarian surgery, is awkward for everyone, as Eva has been silent for years, busy dragging her daughter around the world, in her restless pursuit of new adventures and relationships.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023
As American filmmaking was transitioning from silents to sound in the late 1920s, the industry itself was growing more conservative.
—Hazlitt, 6 Sep. 2023
The Meahers, who own much of the land around Africatown, remain conspicuously off-screen and silent.
—Vulture, 24 Jan. 2023
So the various greenhouses and whatnots were familiar to Martha-content enthusiasts as the vans quickly took us past the beautiful part of her property toward the far less handsome back end, where a near-silent feeding frenzy was underway.
—Curbed, 25 Apr. 2022
Unlike at Yankee Stadium, where fans stood in near-silent anticipation each time Judge went to the plate, spectators in Toronto remained seated, for the most part, during his at-bats.
—David Waldstein, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2022
These fans were on Saraya’s side but went radio silent as soon as her promo veered into pro-woman territory.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
Because the microphone was on, the sound echoed around the theater, which had gone pin-drop silent.
—Chris Jones, The Atlantic, 13 Oct. 2022
The app can still send audible alerts even if the phone is set to silent.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2022
Adjective
Intertitles evocative of silent cinema bookend the music video.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 20 Apr. 2024
When your symptoms persist and don't respond to antihistamines or other allergy treatments, silent reflux may be responsible.
—Dwyer Frame, Health, 19 Apr. 2024
He is driven 20 miles from his jail cell to the courthouse every weekday morning, to bear silent witness to one of the most complex racketeering cases in Georgia’s history.
—Herb Scribner, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024
Among those are a function button, an AF/MF toggle switch, and an aperture ring that swaps between third-stop detents and silent continuous control via a switch.
—PCMAG, 16 Apr. 2024
Thirty-five languages were spoken in Grenfell Tower, a fact memorialized on mosaic tiles embedded in sidewalks marking the route of a silent walk that is taken by some survivors on the fourteenth of every month.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Freemantle’s team crafted quiet moments early on in the film to prepare audiences for the sharp contrasts that would continue, including a spot in the first half of the movie that goes silent after the leads drive together to reach a protest.
—Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Apr. 2024
Times editorial board: The L.A. County Board of Supervisors’ silent sign-off on a $25-million payout fails the accountability test.
—Vanessa Franko, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Their abrupt arrival at Eva’s brother, who runs a veterinarian surgery, is awkward for everyone, as Eva has been silent for years, busy dragging her daughter around the world, in her restless pursuit of new adventures and relationships.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
Noun
Chaplin’s run of silents continued into the talkie era.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023
As American filmmaking was transitioning from silents to sound in the late 1920s, the industry itself was growing more conservative.
—Hazlitt, 6 Sep. 2023
The Meahers, who own much of the land around Africatown, remain conspicuously off-screen and silent.
—Vulture, 24 Jan. 2023
So the various greenhouses and whatnots were familiar to Martha-content enthusiasts as the vans quickly took us past the beautiful part of her property toward the far less handsome back end, where a near-silent feeding frenzy was underway.
—Curbed, 25 Apr. 2022
Unlike at Yankee Stadium, where fans stood in near-silent anticipation each time Judge went to the plate, spectators in Toronto remained seated, for the most part, during his at-bats.
—David Waldstein, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2022
These fans were on Saraya’s side but went radio silent as soon as her promo veered into pro-woman territory.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
Because the microphone was on, the sound echoed around the theater, which had gone pin-drop silent.
—Chris Jones, The Atlantic, 13 Oct. 2022
The app can still send audible alerts even if the phone is set to silent.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'silent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near silent
Cite this Entry
“Silent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silent. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
silent
adjective
si·lent
ˈsī-lənt 
1
: not exhibiting or producing the usual signs or symptoms of presence
a silent urinary tract infection
silent gallstones
silent ischemia
2
: relating to or being an infectious disease or pathogen that spreads undetected within a population
Chlamydia can cause fertility problems for women, but is generally asymptomatic, meaning the infection presents no immediate symptoms, said Dr. James Gaskell, health commissioner for the Athens City-County Health Department. As a result, it spreads quickly in dense populations like college campuses, he said. "It's a silent spreader, if you will, Gaskell said.—Sam Howard
Sam Howard3
: being, involving, or caused by an asymptomatic or presymptomatic infectious individual
silent spread/transmission of infectious disease
silent spreaders of contagious disease
4
: yielding no detectable response to stimulation
—used especially of an association area of the brain
silent cortex
5
: having no detectable function or effect
silent DNA
silent genes
silently
adverb
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