to mumble

Examples

• All

• Steve went bright red, mumbled something and went to his room.

• When you're trying to remember, you get frustrated, you stumble, you mumble, you jumble up your sentences.

• But when it come to her asking him that question, he seemed to mumble and have no, no answer.

  Anything Goes With James English

• You know, at some point she started being able to speak, but she was mumbling like barely able to to express herself.

  Lex Fridman

• "I came to say good-bye," I finally mumbled, stretching out my hand through the open window.

  Fiction book (1990)

• We locals pride ourselves on that. "Well..." he mumbled, looking away from her.

  Fiction book (1990)

• I kept up my round of questioning, and he mumbled some answers.

  Academic text (2011)

• Angelo started mumbling something after you left.

  Robo Vampire (1988)

• 'I think I'm going crazy,' I mumbled in a barely perceptible tone.

  Fiction book (1991)

• Billy shrugged, mumbled something about how hard they were, and began his warm-ups.

  Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

M

to mutter

vsto mumble

140 3.7

To speak quietly so others cannot hear, often to complain

is similar but does not require complaint or annoyance

M

to murmur

vsto mumble

11 4.2

To speak in a low, quiet voice, often to complain or say something softly

is more focused on unclear low volume speech rather than softness alone

H

to hem and haw

vsto mumble

• Informal

3 8.4

To speak slowly and pause instead of answering clearly because you feel unsure

is low unclear speech without the key feature of hesitation

S

to slur

vsto mumble

3 6.3

To speak so the words run together and are hard to understand

is similar but centers on low voice and unclear enunciation rather than running words

M

to mussitate

vsto mumble

• Archaic

9.9

To speak quietly and unclearly so others cannot understand

is the same meaning, focusing on low unclear speech

M

to mump

vsto mumble

• Archaic

9.9

To mutter complaints quietly so others cannot hear

is the general low unclear speech without insisting on complaint

M

to misarticulate

vsto mumble

• Specialized

9.3

To say a word or sound incorrectly so people cannot understand it

involves low unclear speech rather than mainly wrong pronunciation

M

to maunder

vsto mumble

• UK

9.9

To talk in a slow, unclear way about unimportant things

focuses on brief low unclear speech rather than long rambling talk

Antonyms

A

to articulate

85 4.4

To say or write your ideas clearly so others understand

E

to enunciate

6 5.8

To pronounce words clearly so people understand

Compounds

M

mumble-the-peg

• Archaic

9.9

A children's game where players throw a small knife to make it stick in the ground

How Clear

articulate

64 4.6

to speak

∞ 1.0

to mumble

103 4.9

to murmur

11 4.2

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology