dumb
- adjective
- /dʌm/
- Slur
- Your Majesty certainly has a way with dumb animals.
- deaf and dumb
You you would have to be deaf, dumb and blind.
- You you would have to be deaf, dumb and blind.
Examples
-
My daughter is-- for lack of a better word-- dumb.
-
Because as dumb as your father is, he is still keeping an open mind.
Fiction book (1992) -
Nobody could call a horse a dumb animal looking at that.
Fiction book (1995) -
All he wanted to do was stand there staring, like a dumb animal.
Fiction book (1995) -
And among those men I hated was my own poor, dumb father.
Fiction book (1998) -
The old man is deaf or dumb.
-
She's deaf, dumb and blind.
-
Poor dumb Suzie.
-
"My God, he's deaf and dumb, and you're harassing him," said the woman in scandalized tones.
Fiction book (2000) -
In the past, people often referred to individuals who could not speak as dumb.
Synonyms
Unable to speak, often because of deafness, and now considered offensive
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
An explosive dropped from a plane that falls by gravity without guidance
A common houseplant with large green leaves that can make your mouth and throat swell if eaten
Surface Forms
Etymology
Dumb originally meant 'unable to speak' and comes from an old English word dumb that meant 'silent', so it was once used for people who could not speak.