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
Verb
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Kempe then put a gloved finger to his lips, shushing the sixth consecutive sellout crowd in Anaheim.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Jan. 2026 -
After once rising from her seat to scold a man recording the broadcast on his phone to shushing in-studio viewers during an interview with Zohran Mamdani, Whoopi Goldberg just wrote another chapter in her comical relationship with The View's studio audience.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But freedom of expression is a constant pursuit, as natural as breathing, and silencing it is an imperfect practice that exhausts the oppressor and energizes the oppressed.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
28 Jan. 2026
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On Sunday, Alnylam, the gene-silencing company that notched one gigantic accomplishment after another over the past five years, set out a plan for the next five years built on yet more innovation and growth.—
Matthew Herper,
STAT,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The two-year war that followed had a muting effect on deals between Israel and the UAE, as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza created a PR catastrophe for Israelis in the Gulf.—
Kelsey Warner,
semafor.com,
19 Jan. 2026
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For much of the past year, neither side was willing to budge much from their respective stance, effectively muting any chance of a settlement.—
Jeff Gluck,
New York Times,
1 Dec. 2025
Verb
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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
-
Unfortunately, the austerity and elegance of the downstairs dining room acts as a dampener, hushing the salad’s brashness and sapping much of the fun.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
14 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Ball made eight of his nine 3-pointers after halftime, gleefully celebrating each one while quieting the crowd in his hometown.—
Janis Carr,
Oc Register,
16 Jan. 2026
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The books also model subtler tactics for quieting the fawner’s social impulses.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The Shakers, a sect of Christianity named for their ecstatic worship dancing, were nonviolent and refused to fight in the Revolutionary War upon settling in Upstate New York.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Metro Atlanta is settling in for a long winter weekend.—
Avery Newmark,
AJC.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Dumbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dumbing. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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