Dumb definition
Conspicuously unintelligent; stupid.
Dumb officials; a dumb decision.
adjective
(informal) Stupid; moronic.
adjective
Completely undirected by intelligence or foresight.
Dumb luck.
adjective
Unwilling to speak; taciturn.
adjective
To make silent or dumb.
verb
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Temporarily speechless, as with shock or fear.
I was dumb with disbelief.
adjective
The definition of dumb is unable to speak or someone or something that appears stupid.
An example of dumb is the voice of an animal which does not include words.
An example of dumb is what you might call a decision that was made based on the wrong assumptions.
adjective
Unintentional; haphazard.
Dumb luck.
adjective
Lacking the power of speech. Used of animals and inanimate objects.
adjective
(offensive) Incapable of using speech; mute. Used of humans.
adjective
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Lacking the power of speech; mute.
adjective
Unwilling to talk; silent.
adjective
Not accompanied by speech.
adjective
Temporarily speechless, as from fear.
adjective
Producing no sound.
adjective
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Lacking some normal part, characteristic, or quality.
adjective
(comput.) Incapable of some independent functioning because not equipped with a microprocessor or computer.
A dumb computer terminal.
adjective
Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
His younger brother was born dumb, and communicated with sign language.
adjective
Silent; unaccompanied by words.
Dumb show.
adjective
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(informal, pejorative, especially of a person) Extremely stupid.
You are so dumb! You don't even know how to make toast!
adjective
This is dumb! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!
Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.
adjective
Lacking brightness or clearness, as a colour.
adjective
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Not expressed or articulated in sounds or words.
Dumb resentment.
adjective
(nautical) Not self-propelling.
adjective
dumb down
- to make or become less intelligent or intellectually demanding
idiom
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Other Word Forms
Adjective
Base Form:
dumb
Comparative:
dumber
Superlative:
dumbestIdioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of dumb
- Middle English from Old English
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English dumb, from Old English dumb (“silent, silent, speechless, mute, unable to speak”), from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz (“dull, dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeubʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). 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”), Swedish dum (“stupid”), Icelandic dumbur (“dumb, mute”).
From Wiktionary
- From Middle English dumbien, from Old English dumbian (more commonly in compound ādumbian (“to become mute or dumb; keep silence; hold one’s peace”)), from Proto-Germanic *dumbēną, *dumbōną (“to be silent, become dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeubʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with German dummen (“to become dumb”).
From Wiktionary
- In ordinary spoken English, a phrase like "He is dumb" is interpreted as "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech". The latter example, however, is the original sense of the word. The senses of stupid, unintellectual, and pointless developed under the influence of the German word dumm (which itself derives from Old High German tumb).
From Wiktionary