dumbing

verb

present participle of dumb
as in shushing
to stop the noise or speech of the terrible news dumbed her for a long moment, and then she burst into tears

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dumbing
  1. shushing
  2. silencing
  3. muting
  4. hushing
  5. quieting
  6. settling
Verb
  • Trae Young won Madison Square Garden’s undying enmity in the 2021 playoffs for the Atlanta Hawks, punctuating game-breaking shots by shushing the crowd or bowing to the fans and waving goodbye.
    — Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 9 June 2026
  • Wine country with kids in tow doesn’t have to mean a stressful afternoon of shushing and screen time.
    — Lauren Schuster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2026
Definition of shushing
Verb
  • Widdecombe’s death has shaken British politics, silencing a longtime conservative voice from Parliament and Europe who later became a Reform UK firebrand remembered by friends for personal warmth and sharp humor.
    — Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026
  • Meanwhile, Roche has abandoned two Huntington’s gene-silencing drugs after disappointing data, and drugmakers have stepped in to promote Medicare’s new obesity drug discount program.
    — Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 10 July 2026
Definition of silencing
Verb
  • During the third act, in a cunning effect, when anyone picks up a phone, the screen’s contents are displayed on a wall as the lights fade, muting the friends onstage.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 9 July 2026
  • But the field has struggled to figure out a means of delivering RNA-muting molecules into organs and tissues beyond the liver, which has limited their reach.
    — Elaine Chen, STAT, 9 June 2026
Definition of muting
Verb
  • If you’re used to traditional decluttering strategies that focus on sorting and purging, house hushing might feel strange.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 July 2026
  • There are a lot of ways to declutter out there—the pile method and the discernment method are two of them, and now, everyone’s hushing their house.
    — Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 28 Dec. 2025
Definition of hushing
Verb
  • However, the Rams’ acquisition of Garrett puts a team that was firmly a Super Bowl favorite back in the conversation for a 2026 Super Bowl run, quieting the doubters who rose after the 2026 NFL Draft.
    — Gladys Louise Tyler, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
  • The company says the device supports sleep by lowering cortisol within minutes, slowing the heart, quieting racing thoughts and shifting users into parasympathetic mode.
    — Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 4 June 2026
Definition of quieting
Verb
  • As Flex Global expands, users can take advantage of stablecoin payment rails and wallets in more than countries while settling cross-border payments in minutes, the company said.
    — Arthur Zackiewicz, Footwear News, 14 July 2026
  • Rather than opening in central London, the foundation chose to follow the artists, settling in a neighborhood that has become home to an increasingly vibrant creative community.
    — PhotoVogue, Vogue, 13 July 2026
Definition of settling
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

dumbheads
dumbing
dumbing down
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dumbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dumbing. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

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