Skip to main content
mumbler

mumbler

1 7.5
A person who speaks quietly so others cannot understand them
  • noun
  • /ˈmʌmblər/
translation icon : murmurador
  • Mutley is another of the "marbles in mouth mumblers." Radnich does that.

Examples

  • Mumbler!

  • Are you are you a audible cursor or are you a mumbler or are you a silent cursor?

  • Yeah, and you're more of a mumbler-shuffler.

  • "That was yesterday's mumbler.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Y'know, that uncharismatic socialist mumbler might just make a really fine auditor.

    Blog text (22)
  • Or not at Bridger so much as through him, with something like the piercing gaze of the psychotic bar mumbler.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • At the meeting, nobody could understand what the mumbler was saying because he spoke so softly.

  • When talking to a mumbler, it's best to ask them to repeat themselves for clarity.

  • The teacher was known as a mumbler, making it hard for the students to catch all the important details.

Synonyms

mutterer
vsmumbler
8.2

A person who speaks in a quiet voice that is hard to hear

is lower and unclear but not necessarily grumbling or intentional
murmurer
vsmumbler
8.4

A person who speaks in a soft voice that is hard to hear

is similar but focuses on general low clarity rather than softness
mumbly Joe
vsmumbler
  • Informal
9.9

A person who speaks quietly and unclearly so others cannot understand

is the neutral term used to describe unclear quiet speech

Antonyms

A person who says words clearly so others understand

A person who speaks clearly so others can understand

How Clear

orator
  • Formal
17 6.8
speaker
478 2.1
mumbler
1 7.5
murmurer
8.4

Surface Forms

mumbler singular
mumblers plural

Morphology

mumbler = mumble (transparent) = mumble + er

Formed regularly from the verb 'mumble' with the agentive suffix '-er', so a learner who knows 'mumble' can infer 'mumbler'.

Etymology

Mumbler comes from the verb mumble, which means 'to speak quietly and unclearly' and is like the word murmur, both making low, soft sounds. So a mumbler is someone whose words are hard to understand.