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Glite Dictionary
aphonic

aphonic

9.9
Not able to speak and only able to whisper
  • adjective
  • /əˈfoʊnɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : afónico
  • The patient was left aphonic following the surgery on her vocal cords, communicating only in whispers.

Examples

  • Hoarseness is the heralding symptom of laryngeal papillomatosis, although some children do not present until they have become completely aphonic or have developed a life-threatening airway obstruction.

    Academic text (2010)

  • After losing her voice for weeks, the singer was frustrated to find she was still aphonic during her concert.

  • Due to a severe throat infection, he became aphonic and could only speak softly for several days.

Synonyms

voiceless
vsaphonic
7 5.8

People who cannot speak or whose opinions others do not hear

is limited to literal physical inability from injury or illness, allowing whispers
throatless
vsaphonic
8.8

Unable to speak or make a sound and so cannot express feelings

is the literal physical inability from injury or illness, still allowing whispered speech

Antonyms

vocal
69 3.5

Able to make sounds with the voice

How Vocal

well-spoken
13 4.1
hoarse
25 3.4
aphonic
  • Specialized
9.9
voiceless
  • Specialized
1 7.0

Surface Forms

aphonic positive

Morphology

aphonic = phonic (semi-transparent) = a + phon + ic

The negative prefix and base are etymologically clear in learned vocabulary, but the medical sense 'unable to produce voice' is more specialized than a simple everyday 'not phonic' reading.

Etymology

Aphonic is made of two Greek parts: a- meaning 'without' and phon- meaning 'voice' or 'sound', the same root you see in telephone and microphone. So, aphonic literally means 'without a voice', which explains why it describes someone who cannot speak loudly and can only whisper.