silent
Americanadjective
-
making no sound; quiet; still.
a silent motor.
- Synonyms:
- soundless
- Antonyms:
- noisy
-
refraining from speech.
-
speechless; mute.
-
not inclined to speak; taciturn; reticent.
- Antonyms:
- talkative
-
characterized by absence of speech or sound.
a silent prayer.
-
unspoken; tacit.
a silent assent.
-
omitting mention of something, as in a narrative.
The records are silent about this crime.
-
inactive or quiescent, as a volcano.
- Synonyms:
- dormant
-
not sounded or pronounced.
The “b” in “doubt” is a silent letter.
-
Movies. not having spoken dialogue or a soundtrack.
-
Medicine/Medical. producing no symptoms.
silent gallstones.
noun
adjective
-
characterized by an absence or near absence of noise or sound
a silent house
-
tending to speak very little or not at all
-
unable to speak
-
failing to speak, communicate, etc, when expected
the witness chose to remain silent
-
not spoken or expressed
silent assent
-
not active or in operation
a silent volcano
-
(of a letter) used in the conventional orthography of a word but no longer pronounced in that word
the ``k'' in ``know'' is silent
-
denoting a film that has no accompanying soundtrack, esp one made before 1927, when such soundtracks were developed
noun
-
Relating to a mutation that changes a nucleotide in a codon without a difference in the amino acid for which it is coded.
-
See more at point mutation
-
Producing no detectable signs or symptoms, as a medical condition such as heart attack.
Related Words
See still 1.
Other Word Forms
- oversilent adjective
- oversilently adverb
- oversilentness noun
- silently adverb
- silentness noun
- supersilent adjective
- supersilently adverb
- unsilent adjective
- unsilently adverb
Etymology
Origin of silent
First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin silent-, stem of silēns “being quiet,” present participle of silēre “to be quiet”; akin to Old English sālnes “silence”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It was a ghost town. It felt awkward for the people attending, because it was so silent and empty... We were just as in the dark about the event as the attendees were.”
From Los Angeles Times
For a split second, I’m caught in a silent shimmer.
From Literature
He squeezes my hand, a silent thanks, and a breeze blows through, bringing with it the scent of sweet clover and moss.
From Literature
But Ashaal’s family, part of a powerful tribe in south Yemen, was the rare case where the victims refused to be silent.
From Los Angeles Times
Some were self-assured and gung-ho; some were silent and pensive.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
