dumbness
1 synonym and 1 antonym for dumbness, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — The condition of not speaking, either because someone refuses to or because they are unable to.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
The condition of not speaking, either because someone refuses to or because they are unable to.
“He was a deaf-mute. His dumbness did not seem to matter when we were boys.”
Etymology
Dumbness came into English from Middle English dombenesse, which developed from Old English dumbnes; it is equivalent to dumb + -ness. It is cognate with Old Frisian dumbnisse, meaning ‘folly, dumbness’.
Full origin of dumbness →