dumb

American  

[duhm] / dʌm /

adjective

• dumber,
  comparative
• dumbest
  superlative

1. lacking intelligence or good judgment; stupid; dull-witted.

2. lacking the power of speech (offensive when applied to humans).

   a dumb animal.

3. temporarily unable to speak.

   dumb with astonishment.

4. refraining from any or much speech; silent.

5. made, done, etc., without speech.

6. lacking some usual property, characteristic, etc.

7. performed in pantomime; mimed.

8. Computers. pertaining to the inability to do processing locally.

   A dumb terminal can input, output, and display data, but cannot process it.

9. Nautical.

   1. (of a barge) without means of propulsion.

   2. (of any craft) without means of propulsion, steering, or signaling.

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verb phrase

1. dumb down to make or become less intellectual, simpler, or less sophisticated.

   to dumb down a textbook; American movies have dumbed down.

dumb British  

/ dʌm /

adjective

1. lacking the power to speak, either because of defects in the vocal organs or because of hereditary deafness

2. lacking the power of human speech

   dumb animals

3. temporarily lacking or bereft of the power to speak

   struck dumb

4. refraining from speech; uncommunicative

5. producing no sound; silent

   a dumb piano

6. made, done, or performed without speech

7. informal

   1. slow to understand; dim-witted

   2. foolish; stupid See also dumb down

8. (of a projectile or bomb) not guided to its target

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Sensitive Note

Dumb in the sense “lacking the power of speech” is perceived as insulting when describing humans (but not animals), probably because dumb also means “stupid; dull-witted.” The noun dummy in the sense “person who lacks the power of speech” is also perceived as insulting, as are the terms deaf-and-dumb, deaf-mute, and mute. The adjective hard of hearing is acceptable though not the term of choice, partly because it lacks directness. The preferred term is deaf, which makes no reference to an inability to speak or communicate; the capitalized word Deaf signals membership in this community.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dumbness
  noun
• quasi-dumb
  adjective
• dumbly
  adverb
• quasi-dumbly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• dumber
  comparative
• dumbest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of dumb

First recorded before 1000; Old English; cognate with Old Norse dumbr, Gothic dumbs, Old Saxon dumb, Old High German tump, German dumm

Explanation

Today, most of the time someone or something is described as dumb when it shows a lack of thought, like your dumb idea of wearing flip-flops in a snowstorm. Dumb is the Old English word that means "mute, speechless," and itself came from an even older word dheubh meaning "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness." Today, dumb still means "unable to speak," but it doesn't have anything to do with intelligence. Its other meaning, however, does. If you make a dumb mistake, it's something you could have avoided if you thought it through first.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dumb dumber dumbest

She didn’t fight the dumb clichés that early on gathered around her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Even as propaganda, it was pretty dumb — never discounting for currency fluctuation, alternative sourcing or domestic capacity increases, to name a few counterindicators.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026

Not the joke, which was dumb the way 15-year-olds are dumb.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

"In Srinagar, I was a dumb boy from Ladakh who could not speak Hindi or English," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

But he didn’t know about Courtney or my dumb little powers.

From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott

“We’re getting fatter and dumber, and our mental health is deteriorating,” the author writes, which is what “a half century-plus of mass-affluence consumerism has brought us.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

But then they made Woody be a little more understanding and Buzz a little, forgive the word, dumber.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026

My anxiety about A.I. is not that it will make my job obsolete but that it will make me a little dumber.

From Slate ● May 24, 2026

That didn’t stop him from getting dumber ever since.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026

And a calf is dumber than a pig.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

NBA legend Charles Barkley branded the San Antonio Spurs "the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilisation" after the New York Knicks pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

Developer and 2022 mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, who has not endorsed in the mayoral race, called the ban “probably the dumbest idea I have ever heard.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

The “Mortal Kombat” series continues to be one of the dumbest, goriest and most vulgar of all big-studio action franchises.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

But because we keep implementing them in literally the dumbest way possible, they have all the downsides and none of the upsides.

From Slate ● Apr. 22, 2026

I not only felt be-trayed, but I felt like the dumbest sort of sap.

From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben

Related Words

• dull
• foolish