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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongue-tied
Adjective
-
In time, a healthier Dodgers pitching staff could render such mistakes mute.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
6 July 2025 -
This headset ticks every box with great sound, comfortable over-ear cans, and a noise-isolating mic for group chat, with easy mute controls on the cable.—
Simon Hill Adrienne So,
Wired News,
6 July 2025
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
-
Because his work, as is often the case, leaves us almost speechless.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Jan. 2023
Adjective
-
And as the discourse around it keeps stacking up, what started as a silly turn of phrase has devolved into an incomprehensible mess that’s preventing people from noticing the much more insidious shift around them.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
11 July 2025
-
This is because for the first Daemon X Machina, the story was an incomprehensible mess.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
As pompous actor Garry, Nehal Joshi aces the tough task of making his character’s halting, inarticulate speech sound authentic.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 July 2025
-
My hands move around everywhere, my rhythm is very fast and inarticulate and often a bit wishy-washy.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
2 July 2024
Adjective
-
Elsewhere, outside of reasonably decent efforts like the first Wonder Woman or Peacemaker, we were treated mostly to an incoherent mess, from The Flash to Black Adam.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
-
Retirement accounts have been bounced down and up and down again by an incoherent tariff policy.—
Don Harmon,
Chicago Tribune,
8 July 2025
Adjective
-
Once you’re negatively labeled, even your best work struggles to break through the silent barrier those words create.—
Cheryl Robinson,
Forbes.com,
7 July 2025
-
With 66 distinct incidents logged between January and late June, the state has had reports of an array of mysterious aerial objects, ranging from glowing orbs and silent triangles to fast-moving disks and shape-shifting lights.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
7 July 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Tongue-tied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongue-tied. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share