speechless

61 3.1

Unable to speak for a short time because you feel very surprised or shocked

adjective
/ˈspiːtʃləs/

: sin palabras

Standing in front of everyone, he was speechless, flustered, and embarrassed for what seemed like forever.
leave speechless
render speechless
dumb and speechless

It kind of left me a little bit speechless, but yeah, they're good.

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Examples

For the first time in his life, he was speechless.

Courting Mom and Dad (2021)
The beautiful performance left the audience speechless and in awe.
Will it make you speechless or lost for words?
And I mean, it leaves you kind of speechless in a lot of ways.
And I am almost speechless because of what I'm seeing here.

The Rich Dad Channel
It's very rare that I'm speechless, but yeah, I'm speechless.
"What?" For a moment, Aline was shocked speechless, taking the offering without looking at it.

Fiction book (1992)
Lexi is so upset, she's speechless.

Barely Legal (2011)
Claude was rendered speechless by the complex purity of the watch.

Fiction book (1992)
The black-haired mother, still speechless and near tears, threw out her helpless hands.

Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

dumb

vsspeechless

NSFW

58 5.2

Unable to speak for a short time because of shock or surprise

is the general term for temporary silence caused by shock or strong emotion

stunned

vsspeechless

29 3.0

Too shocked to move or think clearly

centres specifically on inability to speak caused by shock or strong feeling

flabbergasted

vsspeechless

9 6.7

Very surprised and unable to speak

is similar but may describe milder or brief silence after emotion

tongue-tied

vsspeechless

9 5.8

Unable to speak easily because you are nervous or embarrassed

refers specifically to silence caused by shock, surprise, or strong emotion

dumbfounded

vsspeechless

7 4.6

Very surprised and unable to speak

is the general state of being mute from shock without stressing intensity

dumbstruck

vsspeechless

5 6.5

So shocked that you cannot speak

is similar but covers all strong emotions causing temporary silence

thunderstruck

vsspeechless

5 7.0

Very surprised and unable to speak or move

focuses more on temporary silence from shock rather than complete nonreaction

stupefied

vsspeechless

1 7.0

Unable to think or react after a sudden shock

is narrower, highlighting temporary loss of speech rather than general numbness

dumbstricken

vsspeechless

9.8

So shocked that you cannot speak for a short time

is the broader label for inability to speak after shock or surprise

phraseless

vsspeechless

8.8

Not able to find words because of strong feeling

is instead about losing the ability to speak due to shock or emotion

Antonyms

articulate

64 4.6

Able to express ideas clearly in speech or writing

talkative

33 2.5

A person who likes to speak a lot with other people

How Speechless

dumbstruck

5 6.5

speechless

61 3.1

tongue-tied

9 5.8

Surface Forms

speechless positive

Morphology

speechless = speech (transparent) = speech + less

The adjective is directly formed by adding the productive suffix '-less' to 'speech', yielding the straightforward meaning 'without speech' or 'unable to speak'.

Etymology

Speechless is a simple compound of speech ('talk') and -less ('without'), so it literally means 'without talk'. That's why when someone is too surprised, shocked, or moved to speak, they are called 'speechless'.