silent

1 deliberately refraining from speech the suddenly silent child had to be prompted to say hello Synonyms dumb, mum, mute, muted, speechless, uncommunicative, wordless Related Words inarticulate, tongue-tied; nonvocal, voiceless; dumbstruck; sulking, sulky, sullen Near Antonyms articulate, eloquent, fluent, voluble, well-spoken; gabby, garrulous, loquacious, talkative, talky; outspoken, unreserved, vocal; facile, glib, silver-tongued, smooth-tongued Antonyms communicative, speaking, talking

2 tending not to speak frequently (as by habit or inclination) a naturally silent boy, he was often overshadowed by his louder siblings Synonyms closemouthed, dumb, laconic, reserved, reticent, taciturn, tight-lipped, uncommunicative Related Words aloof, indrawn, inhibited, introverted, reserved, restrained; sedate, self-contained, sober, staid; backward, bashful, coy, demure, diffident, modest, retiring, self-effacing, sheepish Near Antonyms free-spoken, outspoken, vocal; gossipy, talebearing; diffuse, long-winded, prolix, rambling, verbose, windy, wordy; extroverted (also extraverted), gregarious, outgoing, sociable Antonyms blabby, chatty, communicative, conversational, gabby, garrulous, loquacious, motormouthed, mouthy, talkative, talky, unreserved

3 mostly or entirely without sound the room was so silent that you could have heard the proverbial pin drop Synonyms hushed, muted, noiseless, quiet, quieted, soundless, still, stilly Related Words calm, peaceable, peaceful, serene, tranquil Near Antonyms boisterous, clamorous, clangorous, clattering, clattery, raucous, rip-roaring, roaring, roistering, tumultuous Antonyms noisy, rackety, unquiet, uproarious