mumble
Americanverb (used without object)
-
mumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mumbled,
past participle, past
-
mumbling
present participle
-
to speak in a low indistinct manner, almost to an unintelligible extent; mutter.
- Antonyms:
- articulate
-
to chew ineffectively, as from loss of teeth.
to mumble on a crust.
verb (used with object)
-
mumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mumbled,
past participle, past
-
mumbling
present participle
-
to say or utter indistinctly, as with partly closed lips.
He mumbled something about expenses.
-
to chew, or try to eat, with difficulty, as from loss of teeth.
noun
-
mumbles
plural
verb
-
to utter indistinctly, as with the mouth partly closed; mutter
-
rare to chew (food) ineffectually or with difficulty
noun
Synonym Usage
See murmur.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
mumblernoun
-
half-mumbledadjective
-
mumblingadjective
-
unmumbledadjective
-
unmumblingadjective
-
mumblinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
mumblesimple
-
mumblessimple
-
have mumbledperfect
-
has mumbledperfect
-
am mumblingprogressive
-
are mumblingprogressive
-
is mumblingprogressive
-
have been mumblingperfect progressive
-
has been mumblingperfect progressive
Past
-
mumbledsimple
-
had mumbledperfect
-
was mumblingprogressive
-
were mumblingprogressive
-
had been mumblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mumble
1275–1325; Middle English momelen, equivalent to mom ( me ) mum 1 + -elen -le; compare Dutch mommelen, German mummeln
Explanation
To mumble is to talk quietly and indistinctly. When people speak in a mumble, it's hard to understand them. Mumbling is a way of speaking that’s a little like whispering. Like whispering, mumbling is usually done with a low voice. However, mumbling is harder to understand than a whisper. When we mumble, we don't form out words clearly. Mumbling is the opposite of speaking clearly. Some people mumble because they lack confidence. Others might mumble because they're tired or not feeling well. If you want to be a good public speaker, you'd better learn to not mumble.
Vocabulary lists containing mumble
Instead of "Said": Words That Sound Like What They Mean
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The Circuit
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Finding Langston
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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.
See Examples For:
The first was oracular and inscrutable, a chairman who bragged he had learned to mumble with great incoherence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
"My fingers may fumble, my mouth may mumble and each step I take may result in a stumble. But I cannot grumble."
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Peters started to mumble, sway and close his eyes as the camera panned away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
This wasn’t cause for concern — a lot of students mumble.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2024
“You got me upstairs,” I mumble through the oak, sliding down to the floor.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
“Why are you talking to me?” she mumbles in faux outrage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
Unfortunately for Fox, much of what Homan has to say is hard to understand, because he mumbles.
From Slate ● May 18, 2024
“I am a solitary hero. I am alone. I am a solitary hero. Alone,” he mumbles.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2024
"I love mumbles and the Gower coast," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2023
“That's cool,” he mumbles, chewing his sandwich and moving toward the refrigerator.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
I mumbled, “This place reminds me of New York,” hoping that would end the dialogue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Why learn anything when the answer will always be one mumbled request away?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
Fed Chair Jerome Powell mumbled something about “ample reserves” and pointed back to 2019, when the repo market seized up overnight and forced the Fed to rush in with emergency cash.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 2, 2025
It's a rare flash of humour from the frontman, whose onstage utterings are mostly limited to mumbled "thank yous".
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025
“I thought the book was lost,” she mumbled.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Mollie Amkraut Mueller’s mumbling was starting to get on her husband’s nerves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
To test this idea, the researchers combined self-directed internal speech, described as quiet "mumbling," with a specialized working memory system.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 28, 2026
The big man returned fairly soon after that, mumbling something about drinking too much water and about Barkley talking way too long when he really needed to cut to a break.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025
There is part of me that wants to be happy about this mission, like Coleman is, instead of sourly mumbling about how the rocket is going up, and then back down.
From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2025
Grandpa put his thinking cap on and started mumbling and grumbling.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
