speechlessly

1 5.6

Not able to speak because of shock or strong feeling

adverb
/ˈspiːtʃləsli/

: sin palabras

Patrons stop mid-sentence, mid-meal, and look speechlessly as if in a slow-motion dream.

Examples

The audience watched speechlessly as the magician pulled a rabbit out of the hat, completely astonished by the trick.
Stunned, we dropped our weapons and watched speechlessly.

Fiction book (1995)
The bankers speechlessly stare at him.

Fiction book (1990)
He was staring at her speechlessly, stupidly, unable to believe she had taken this upon herself.

Fiction book (2001)
And Jonathan had felt the hairs rising on the back of his neck as she pointed speechlessly to the dead diaphragm, skewered there like a voodoo sacrifice.

Fiction book (1990)
After hearing the unexpected news, she stood there speechlessly, unable to process what had just happened.
When she received the award, he could only smile speechlessly, overwhelmed with joy and disbelief.

Synonyms

wordlessly

vsspeechlessly

6 3.9

To do something without speaking or using words

shows inability to speak because of shock emotion or weakness

dumbly

vsspeechlessly

3 7.4

Without speaking, unable or unwilling to say anything

signals silence caused by shock emotion or physical weakness

mutely

vsspeechlessly

3 5.6

Without speaking or making any sound

shows inability to speak due to shock emotion or weakness

Antonyms

eloquently

46 5.1

In a clear, confident, and moving way when speaking or writing

How Speechless

speechlessly

1 5.6

wordlessly

6 3.9

silently

129 1.2

Surface Forms

speechlessly positive

Morphology

speechlessly = speechless (transparent) = speech + less + ly

Formed by adding the adverbial suffix '-ly' to the transparent adjective 'speechless'.

Etymology

Speechlessly is built from speech ('talk'), plus -less ('without') and -ly (which makes it describe how something is done). So speechlessly means 'without words', used when someone cannot speak because of shock, strong feeling, or weakness.