as in mute
unable to speak because you are nervous or shy
She became tongue-tied whenever he was around. He gets tongue-tied in front of crowds.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongue-tied
Adjective
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Its massive 60mm Eclipse dual drivers give you high-fidelity 24-bit audio, while the flip-to-mute mic offers broadcast-quality voice accuracy.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
17 Mar. 2026 -
Other members of the fractured Jackson clan have remained unusually mute on the battle — even as Paris’ aunt Janet Jackson was very publicly out and about at recent runway shows in the City of Lights.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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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 permanent layoff of approximately 300 workers at the Searles Valley Minerals Trona plant will have an incomprehensible impact on our High Desert communities.—
Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh,
Oc Register,
21 Mar. 2026
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If not for the frame of the goal and an incomprehensible Riccardo Califiori block, the outlook of the game could have been very different going into the break.—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Recent years have been boom times for language that is inarticulate on purpose.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
24 Feb. 2026
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There are a few inarticulate screams and sobs but no dialogue, no lyrics, no spoken intro, no utterances at all.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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According to police, Bigelow allegedly appeared incoherent and refused officers’ commands to exit the vehicle.—
Staff Report,
Hartford Courant,
19 Mar. 2026
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His words were angry and often incoherent, but the hostility behind them was unmistakable.—
Jodi Bondi Norgaard,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The surveillance video is silent, so it was not immediately known what, if any, words were exchanged between the two prior to the incident.—
Jesse Zanger,
CBS News,
21 Mar. 2026
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After the closure of Grand Theatre, which showed silent films until 1931, the Naper Theatre took its place in downtown Naperville in 1935 and remained in business until 1977.—
Naperville Sun,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Tongue-tied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongue-tied. Accessed 26 Mar. 2026.
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