dumbing

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dumbing
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
Verb
  • Labor Day Headphones Deals The Bose QuietComfort headphones remain the industry benchmark for silencing everyday distractions.
    Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 8 Sep. 2026
  • And to be unseen is a kind of disappearance and to be uncredited is a kind of silencing.
    Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 3 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Among several solutions such as time limits and muting notifications during certain hours, the changes include giving teens the option to choose to view a non-algorithmic social media feed that isn’t personalized.
    Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • Nelson remembers hushing her foster children back to sleep that night and calling 911, anxious for an end to those sleepless nights.
    Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • Seattle comforts you with its natural beauty, quieting your mind and heightening your senses.
    Giovanna Caravetta, Travel + Leisure, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Five minutes later, Messi gave Miami the lead, curling his shot in tight space past three defenders, quieting the sellout crowd at Subaru Park.
    Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 20 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Matsson’s settling in here is more than just a matter of place.
    Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2026
  • The question of whether Markle really expected Beyoncé to go out of her way to meet her, even as Markle is presumably still settling into her new life back in the UK, remains up in the air.
    Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 7 Sep. 2026
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.

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Cite this Entry

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

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