Meaning of silent in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈsaɪlənt/

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  1. Classifying Adjective

    silent

    Definitions

    1. marked by absence of sound

    Examples

    • « a silent house »
    • « soundless footsteps on the grass »
    • « the night was still »

    Synonyms

  2. 2. failing to speak or communicate etc when expected to

    Examples

    • « the witness remained silent »

    Synonyms

  3. 3. indicated by necessary connotation though not expressed directly

    Examples

    • « gave silent consent »
    • « a tacit agreement »
    • « the understood provisos of a custody agreement »

    Synonyms

  4. 4. not made to sound

    Examples

    • « the silent 'h' at the beginning of 'honor' »
    • « in French certain letters are often unsounded »

    Synonyms

  5. 5. having a frequency below or above the range of human audibility

    Examples

    • « a silent dog whistle »

    Synonyms

  6. 6. unable to speak because of hereditary deafness

    Synonyms

Famous quotes

  • « Tears are the silent language of grief. »
    Voltaire
  • « Laws are silent in time of war. »
    Marcus Tullius Cicero
  • « I try to respect the rules of the silent movies and I tried to make signification to make sense, and also the crew were very good and the fact that we shot in LA in the real Hollywood, studios and houses. We shot in the bed of Mary Pickford, and you cannot be any more accurate than that, so that helped a lot. »
    Michel Hazanavicius
  • « I was silent as a child, and silenced as a young woman I am taking my lumps and bumps for being a big mouth, now, but usually from those whose opinion I don't respect. »
    Sandra Cisneros
  • « In time of war the laws are silent. »
    Marcus Tullius Cicero

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