silent Hear it!

silent Definition

si·lent (lənt)

adjective

  1. making no vocal sound; not speaking; speechless; mute
  2. seldom speaking; saying little; not talkative
  3. free from, or not making, sound or noise; quiet; still; noiseless
    1. not spoken, uttered, or expressed silent longing
    2. included in the spelling of a word but with no part of the word's pronunciation corresponding directly to it: said of a letter or group of letters silent b in “debt” and gh in “thought”
  4. withholding knowledge or omitting mention; uncommunicative
  5. not active factories silent for months
  6. designating or of films without a synchronized soundtrack
  7. not having noticeable symptoms a silent heart attack

Etymology: L silens < prp. of silere, to be silent, still, prob. < IE base *sē(i)-, *sī-, to rest > seed, side, Goth (ana)silan, to cease (of the wind)

noun

silent films: often preceded by the

silent Related Forms

si·lently adverb

silent Synonyms

silent

modif.

  1. Without noise

    still, hushed, soundless; see calm 2, quiet 2.

  2. Without speech

    reserved, mute, speechless; see dumb 1.

silent Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • eerily: Godfrey, Mark and Fred are eerily silent on this issue.
  • strangely: Strangely silent on the moral problems of going to a country being bombed back to the stone age to fill your boots rebuilding it.
  • virtually: Nevertheless, political science journals remain virtually silent on such issues.
  • curiously: The map of the Award ( above ) is curiously silent about the nature of the ground being enclosed.
  • clinically: OA can cause pain and lameness although in some dogs the disease may remain clinically silent for many months or years.

Preposition: for

  • while: The wolf licked her hand, rested his head in her lap and was silent for a while.
  • moment: The crowd fell silent for a few stunned moments.

Preposition: as

grave: But at this stage in its history, the Keep was as silent as the grave.

Modifies a noun

  • vigil: Once in position, there will be a silent vigil at 8pm.
  • killer: A silent killer ( Robert Lang ), wearing white sneakers, has been slashing to death women in London.
  • auction: He also made 100 by running a silent auction with his wonderful image of the two dolphins in the waves.
  • tear: A silent thought, a silent tear, Always wishing you were here.
  • prayer: Some are led to forms of silent prayer, meditation or simply a resting in the Lord.
  • majority: Richard: We like to think The Daily Mail speaks for the silent majority.

Used with adjective complement

  • remain: The League of Nations remained silent on the invasion.
  • fall: People talked together, then fell silent, then talked some more or looked at the stars.
  • stay: Happily, these two little boys did not stay silent long.
  • sit: In the midst of these ineffective councils the chief sits usually silent a kind of a gagged audience for village orators.
  • keep: I would also like to see him keep silent whilst trying to give birth.
  • stand: Their law provided for Him to stand there silent.

Browse dictionary entries near silent

  1. silencer
  2. silenced
  3. silence suppression
  4. silence
  5. sild
  6. Silastic
  7. Silas
  8. silage
  9. Sikorsky
  10. Sikkim
  1. silent auction
  2. silent butler
  3. silent partner
  4. silently
  5. Silenus
  6. silesia
  7. silex
  8. silhouette
  9. silic-
  10. silica