mum
22
7.7
- noun
- /mʌm/
- Informal
:
silencio
- The secret project was kept mum to avoid any leaks to the media.
Examples
-
I'll keep it mums the word.
-
But y'all better keep it mum... cause they can't know I have a solo channel.
-
Fortunately, he was mum as to the condition in which these souls need be.
-
Nothing is quite official yet, so the organization is keeping understandably mum about the whole thing.
Blog text (11) -
I told them I was bleeding but kept mum about the parsley.
Blog text (33) -
Mr. Laconic, Ned mostly stayed mum on the subject.
Fiction book (2001) -
While the Wilcoxes kept mum, the ruins remained safe, hidden on a remote 4,000-acre ranch called Range Creek.
Academic text (2004) -
While the investigation was ongoing, the police remained mum about the details.
-
When asked about the new policy, the manager said mum was the word until the official announcement.
Synonyms
181
4.0
Not speaking about something when people ask you
165
4.4
Keeping information hidden from other people
1
6.5
The habit of not telling people things or hiding information from them
Antonyms
Compounds
Parents who give money to their adult children to pay for big costs like a house or university
How Silent
Surface Forms
Etymology
Mum meaning silence comes from the quiet 'mmm' sound people make with closed lips, and a helpful way to remember it is to imagine someone saying 'mmm' instead of speaking. So to be mum about something is to be 'silent' or to keep a secret.