VOOZH about

URL: https://www.wordreference.com/definition/mute

⇱ mute - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

mute

Listen:
UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈmjuːt/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/mjut/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(myo̅o̅t)

Inflections of 'mute' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
mutes
v 3rd person singular
muting
v pres p
muted
v past
muted
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
mute /myut/USA pronunciation   adj., mut•er, mut•est, n., v., mut•ed, mut•ing. 
adj. 
  1. silent;
    not having or giving off any sound:They were mute when I asked them who was the thief.
  2. incapable of speech;
    dumb:mute from birth.
  3. Phonetics(of letters) silent;
    not pronounced:The letter "e'' is mute in the word "come.''

n. [countable]
  1. a person incapable of speech.
  2. Music and Dancea mechanical device for muffling the tone of a musical instrument.

v. [~ + object]
  1. to deaden or muffle the sound of.
  2. to reduce the intensity of (a color) by the addition of another color:The colors are more muted in the bedroom.
mute•ly, adv. : They stood by mutely, unable or unwilling to answer.
mute•ness, n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
mute  (myo̅o̅t),USA pronunciation adj., mut•er, mut•est, n., v., mut•ed, mut•ing. 
adj. 
  1. silent;
    refraining from speech or utterance.
  2. not emitting or having sound of any kind.
  3. incapable of speech;
    dumb.
  4. Phonetics(of letters) silent;
    not pronounced.
  5. Law(of a person who has been arraigned) making no plea or giving an irrelevant response when arraigned, or refusing to stand trial (used chiefly in the phrase to stand mute).
  6. Sport[Fox Hunting.](of a hound) hunting a line without giving tongue or cry.

n. 
  1. a person incapable of speech.
  2. Show Businessan actor whose part is confined to dumb show.
  3. Lawa person who stands mute when arraigned.
  4. Music and DanceAlso called sordino. a mechanical device of various shapes and materials for muffling the tone of a musical instrument.
  5. Phoneticsa stop.
  6. British Termsa hired mourner at a funeral;
    a professional mourner.

v.t. 
  1. to deaden or muffle the sound of.
  2. to reduce the intensity of (a color) by the addition of another color.
  • Latin mūtus) + unexplained suffix -et; compare -et
  • Middle French, equivalent. to Old French mu (
  • Latin mūtus dumb; replacing Middle English muet
  • 1325–75
mute′ly, adv. 
mute′ness, n. 
    3. still. See dumb. 
    1. talkative.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
mute /mjuːt/ adj
  1. not giving out sound or speech; silent
  2. offensive unable to speak
  3. unspoken or unexpressed
  4. (of a person arraigned on indictment) refusing to answer a charge
  5. (of a letter in a word) silent
 n
    • a control used to turn off the sound on an electronic device, application, etc
    • the state of an electronic device, application, etc when the sound is turned off: to play a video on mute
  2. any of various devices used to soften the tone of stringed or brass instruments
  3. offensive a person who is unable to speak
  4. a person who refuses to plead when arraigned on indictment for an offence
  5. a plosive consonant; stop
  6. a silent letter
  7. an actor in a dumb show
  8. a hired mourner at a funeral
 vb (transitive)
  1. to render silent
  2. to reduce the volume of (a musical instrument) by means of a mute, soft pedal, etc
  3. to subdue the strength of (a colour, tone, lighting, etc)
  4. to stop receiving posts from (a person) temporarily, while continuing to follow him or her
Etymology: 14th Century: muwet from Old French mu, from Latin mūtus silentˈmutely adv ˈmuteness n USAGE
'mute' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "mute" in the title:

a 2 minute mute vs a 2-minute mute
a mute
be mute for
deaf-mute / deaf and dumb
Did they mute their speakers
go dumb vs go mute
he stood behind <the mute>
he stood in mute [devotion]
How camest thou speakable of mute
mute / voiced
mute as dumb
mute fastness
mute my phone / mute the caller
Mute please
mute/dumb English
rave mute as amber
School for Gifted [?] People [For people who are: deaf, blind, mute]
Silence / Mute a phone
Silence/mute a TV
stood <mutely><mute>
that awful mute appeal to me
The accusation left him quite silent/mute/ speechless with rage.
the first outrider of that mute and inexplicable rage
The TV is mute.
they were all on mute
to sign (mute people)
why is it "a mute try" instead of "a mute tries"?

Look up "mute" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "mute" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!
Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.
Firefox users: use search shortcuts for the fastest search of WordReference.
Copyright © 2026 WordReference.com
Please report any problems.