1
as in speechless
deliberately refraining from speech
the suddenly silent child had to be prompted to say hello
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in reserved
tending not to speak frequently (as by habit or inclination)
a naturally silent boy, he was often overshadowed by his louder siblings
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in quieted
mostly or entirely without sound
the room was so silent that you could have heard the proverbial pin drop
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in talkie
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of silent
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
Alex Ross, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Strangely, all the clowns with Ukraine flags 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 in their bio are also all silent on this one.
—Amanda Castro
hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for silent
Adjective
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
Noun
From 1923 to 1940, Martinů lived in Paris, and turned out enough up-to-the-minute works—about soccer, silent-movie shoots, transatlantic flights—that he could have been mistaken for a seventh member of Les Six.
—Alex Ross, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Strangely, all the clowns with Ukraine flags 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 in their bio are also all silent on this one.
—Amanda Castro
hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for silent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for silent
Adjective
-
In helicopter video taken by Air Maui Helicopter Tours in Lahaina and posted online the people aboard are largely speechless.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC News,
10 Aug. 2023
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Because his work, as is often the case, leaves us almost speechless.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Jan. 2023
Adjective
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The journey is comfortable, with reserved seats, onboard restrooms, and no worries about parking or crowded overlooks.—
Taryn White,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Garnish with reserved fennel fronds.—
Elizabeth Fogarty,
Better Homes & Gardens,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The first few minutes of the film are a breathless, almost wordless introduction to the Otherlands, with Scarlet trapped under rotting hands clamoring to keep her there.—
Adam Solomons,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
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Color schemes weave a wordless Bildungsroman, contrasting youthful pinks and purples with more mature hues of blue, gold and gray to fit the duality of the freshman spirit.—
Zoey Lyttle,
People.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Classical minimalism, meant to evoke modest virtue and restrained power, is a good style for a democratic state.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
6 Sep. 2025
-
The sizable rooms offer a restrained elegance, with white marble bathrooms, mid-century modern furniture, and black-and-white photos of striking architecture on the walls.—
Kate Kassin,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
On highways and surface roads in the rural countryside west of Detroit, the 2025 Ford Explorer was smooth and quiet, with plenty of power for highway acceleration.—
Mark Phelan,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
-
The peak of hurricane season is here, and activity could soon ramp up, despite the relative quiet currently occurring in the tropics, according to meteorologists.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The couple's other projects in development at Netflix include a feature adaptation of Carley Fortune's novel Meet Me at the Lake and a documentary short called Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
27 Aug. 2025
-
Clone Wars originally aired in 2003 as a series of shorts on Cartoon Network, employing Tartakovsky’s signature style of angular forms, kinetic action and sparse dialogue.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Today, the buildings stand as mute witnesses to the mobilization of past war efforts.—
Don Sproul,
Oc Register,
9 Sep. 2025
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Bluesky users also appreciated the moderation on the platform and having the ability to block or mute people as a means of disengaging from more aggressive, unpleasant conversations.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The film follows a young drifter and a taciturn trucker who link up and forge a precarious bond on Mexico’s dangerous highways.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Young, unemployed family man Nick (MacKay) volunteers to take the boat back out, along with taciturn, new-in-town drifter Liam (Turner) and grizzled seadog Murgey (Francis Magee).—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
31 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Silent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/silent. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
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