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Synonyms for dumbness

Grammar : Noun
Spell : duhm
Phonetic Transcription : dʌm

Top 10 synonyms for dumbness
Other synonyms for the word dumbness

Définition of dumbness

Origin :
  • Old English dumb "silent, unable to speak," from PIE *dheubh- "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness," from root *dheu- (1) "dust, mist, vapor, smoke," and related notions of "defective perception or wits."
  • The Old English, Old Saxon (dumb), Gothic (dumbs), and Old Norse (dumbr) forms of the word meant only "mute, speechless;" in Old High German (thumb) it meant both this and "stupid," and in Modern German this latter became the only sense. Meaning "foolish, ignorant" was occasionally in Middle English, but modern use (1823) comes from influence of German dumm. Related: dumber; dumbest.
  • Applied to silent contrivances, hence dumbwaiter. As a verb, in late Old English, "to become mute;" c.1600, "to make mute." To dumb (something) down is from 1933.
  • noun stupidity
  • noun silence
Example sentences :
  • The dumbness that had fallen from his daughter seemed to have dropped upon him.
  • Extract from : « The Scapegoat » by Hall Caine
  • Molly says, at length awakening to the fact of her lover's dumbness.
  • Extract from : « Molly Bawn » by Margaret Wolfe Hamilton
  • At Oxford Circus they got out, and left me pondering on deafness and dumbness.
  • Extract from : « A Boswell of Baghdad » by E. V. Lucas
  • For the sake of his hoard he had taken on himself the dumbness and deafness of a fish.
  • Extract from : « The Children of Odin » by Padraic Colum
  • In her constant living with animals she had caught their dumbness and their calm.
  • Extract from : « Madame Bovary » by Gustave Flaubert
  • He opened his mouth to answer, indeed, but a dumbness sealed his lips.
  • Extract from : « Morning Star » by H. Rider Haggard
  • But her faculty for dumbness was stronger than his, and—he had to speak first.
  • Extract from : « The Patrician » by John Galsworthy
  • "Something'll come of the dumbness," he prophesied to himself.
  • Extract from : « Red Pepper Burns » by Grace S. Richmond
  • This question, focusing his doubts, broke down the Squire's dumbness.
  • Extract from : « The Country House » by John Galsworthy
  • Perhaps she herself had been sufficient reason for his dumbness.
  • Extract from : « The Place of Honeymoons » by Harold MacGrath
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019