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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dumbing
Verb
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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 -
The snow was shushing off the roof of the garage and down on the driveway.—
Alan Gionet,
CBS News,
3 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Trump’s immigration policies don’t make sense as a pro-worker agenda, but do make sense as a way of silencing dissent and keeping out nonwhite immigrants.—
Gilad Edelman,
The Atlantic,
5 Jan. 2026
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Students have been instructed to continue sheltering in place until further notice, locking doors and silencing phones.—
Danya Gainor,
CNN Money,
13 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The newsroom union claims the change is throttling staff diversity and muting the magazine’s progressive political bent.—
Katie Kilkenny,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Nov. 2025
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And Democrats will remain the side fond of muting dissent.—
Newsweek Contributors,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 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
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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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Dave Chappelle – Live July 14, 2023 Comedy at this scale functions strangely — a stadium quieting itself to hear one person think out loud.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
5 Dec. 2025
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Gilma Pereda was having trouble quieting her brain.—
Katie Lauer,
Mercury News,
4 Dec. 2025
Verb
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That can include lowering interest rates, reducing monthly payments, extending repayment timelines or, in some cases, settling for less than the full amount owed.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
5 Jan. 2026
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The warmth also helps any contaminants drain out, rather than settling at the bottom of cold oil.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
5 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Dumbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dumbing. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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