TONGUE-TIED Synonyms: 38 Similar and Opposite Words

tongue-tied

adjective

Definition of tongue-tied

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

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.

Recent Examples of tongue-tied My two companions—one of whom was Alabaster—seemed a bit tongue-tied. — Literary Hub, 22 July 2026 But on April 24, Stanford got tongue-tied when asked to explain her position on abolishing ICE. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 18 May 2026 At times, Raman was tongue-tied trying to answer simple questions. — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongue-tied

Adjective

Marceline Hugot, who plays Kathy Geiss, the mute daughter of GE’s boss Don Geiss, made a brief but thrilling appearance on trumpet.

— Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Women tend to be victims rather than actors, but they are not rendered mute.

— Alex Ross, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of mute

Adjective

By the end, the audience is left almost speechless — and still thinking about this singular, deeply original performance long after Lyons has left the stage.

— Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
His friends, from brother Luigi (Charlie Day) to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) veer in a similar direction, somehow coming across less fully formed and three-dimensional than their nearly speechless inspirations from Nintendo‘s flagship franchise.

— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 31 Mar. 2026

Definition of speechless

Adjective

Painfully aware of this, Shawn waited for one of the drunk old men to comment, heckle, make one of those incomprehensible jokes that drew rude laughter from adults.

— Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
Sure, the story is incomprehensible, and Dylan is far from a great actor.

— Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of incomprehensible

Adjective

The cloud was blank and inarticulate, a monolith with no secrets to reveal to any of its human witnesses.

— Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
Just as between them William James and Michael Oakeshott told us that there is no such thing as unmediated experience, so, surely, there is no such thing as inarticulate thought.

— Richard Lansdown, The New York Review of Books, 25 June 2026

Definition of inarticulate

Adjective

Tyson is at once scary, funny, personable, distasteful, introspective, superficial, articulate and incoherent.

— Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2026
Only coherent enterprises can confidently move fast, while the incoherent spend years undoing debt that’s compounded.

— Madhu Shashanka, Forbes.com, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of incoherent

Adjective

But like many people who often turn to humor in uncomfortable situations, Iain attempted to make a few jokes, while Holly Revord remained totally silent.

— Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
In the last stretch of Slam Frank, the show turns serious, as Anne’s silent sister Margot starts talking.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of silent

Browse Nearby Words

tongues

tongue-tied

tonic

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Style

“Tongue-tied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongue-tied. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of tongue-tied

adjective

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