dumb

Meaning

Adj

1. (dated) Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
2. (archaic) Not talkative; taciturn or unwilling to speak.
3. (dated) Having no input or voice in running things.
4. (dated, usually) Unaccompanied by words or speech, silent, wordless.
5. (dated) Not producing any sound, silent.
6. (derogatory, especially, informal) Stupid.
7. (figuratively) Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
8. Lacking some functionality or property ordinarily characteristic of its kind.
9. Not equipped with intelligent behavior or processing capabilities of its own.
10. (obsolete, rare) Lacking brightness or clearness as a colour; dim, dull.

Verb

1. (dated, transitive) To silence.
2. (transitive) To make stupid.
3. (transitive) To represent as stupid.
4. (transitive) To reduce the intellectual demands of.

Adv

Very, extremely.

Opposite of

intelligent, smart

Synonyms

stupid

mute

🔇

silent

🔇

foolish

speechless

silly

dull

unable to speak

slow

deaf

idiot

idiotic

fool

dim

slow-witted

useless

obtuse

dense

unintelligent

thick

unthinking

brainless

taciturn

moronic

dopey

crazy

dizzy

💫

inane

tongue-tied

dim-witted

imbecilic

humble

gormless

meek

mad

featherbrained

fatuous

dumb terminal

dumbbell

crass

be quiet

dull-witted

clueless

dopy

insane

inept

close-mouthed

be

irascible

anserine

Translations

muet

mudo

🔇

muto

🔇

stupido

stupide

dumm

stumm

🔇

tonto

idiot

blöd

doof

tonto

bête

stom

🔇

mudo

🔇

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dʌm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: dumb

Inherited from Old English: dumb

Cognate with Scots: dumb

Cognate with Northern Frisian: dom

Cognate with Western Frisian: dom

Cognate with Dutch: dom

Cognate with German: dumm

Cognate with Danish: dum

Cognate with Swedish: dum

Cognate with Icelandic: dumbur

Inherited from Middle English: dumben

Inherited from Old English: dumbian

Cognate with German: verdummen

In summary

From Middle English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, ineffectual”), from Old English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, unable to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *dumb, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz (“dull, dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”).
The senses of stupid, unintellectual, and pointless, which are found regularly since the 19th century only, probably developed under the influence of German dumm and Dutch dom. Just like the English word, these originally meant "lacking the power of speech", but they developed the mentioned senses early on.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots dumb (“dumb, silent”), North Frisian dom, domme (“dumb, stupid”), West Frisian dom (“dumb, stupid”), Dutch dom (“dumb, stupid”), German dumm (“dumb, stupid”), Danish dum (“stupid”), Swedish dum (“stupid”), Icelandic dumbur (“dumb, mute”). See also deaf.

Sentences

Television can make you dumb , but it can also be good education .