mute

American  

[myoot] / mjut /

adjective

muter, mutest

1. silent; refraining from speech or utterance.

   Antonyms:

   talkative

2. not emitting or having sound of any kind.

3. incapable of speech (offensive when applied to humans).

   Animals are mute and are only able to speak in fairy tales and fables.

4. (of letters) silent; not pronounced.

   The mute “e” in the word “dime” makes the preceding vowel long, so it is not pronounced like “dim.”

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 phraseto stand mute ).

6. Fox Hunting. (of a hound) hunting a line without giving tongue or cry.

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noun

mutes plural

1. Offensive. a person incapable of speech.

2. an actor whose part is confined to dumb show.

3. Law. a person who stands mute when arraigned.

4. Also called sordino.  a mechanical device of various shapes and materials for muffling the tone of a musical instrument.

5. Phonetics. (especially in older use) stop.

6. British Obsolete. a hired mourner at a funeral; a professional mourner.

verb (used with object)

mutes, present (3rd person singular) muted, past participle, past muting present participle

1. to deaden or muffle the sound of.

   The music was a little muted by distance and the trees.

2. to turn off (a microphone, a speaker, or audio).

   During the commercials, they muted the TV and discussed the game.

   Check the mic icon to make sure you're not muted.

3. to reduce the intensity of (a color) by the addition of another color.

4. to soften or subdue; moderate.

   His happiness about returning to the United States was muted by his concern for the other hostages.

mute ¹ British  

/ mjuːt /

adjective

1. not giving out sound or speech; silent

2. unable to speak; dumb

3. unspoken or unexpressed

   mute dislike

4. law (of a person arraigned on indictment) refusing to answer a charge

5. phonetics another word for plosive

6. (of a letter in a word) silent

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noun

1. a person who is unable to speak

2. law a person who refuses to plead when arraigned on indictment for an offence

3. any of various devices used to soften the tone of stringed or brass instruments

4. phonetics a plosive consonant; stop

5. a silent letter

6. an actor in a dumb show

7. a hired mourner at a funeral

verb

1. to reduce the volume of (a musical instrument) by means of a mute, soft pedal, etc

2. to subdue the strength of (a colour, tone, lighting, etc)

mute ² British  

/ mjuːt /

verb

1. (of birds) to discharge (faeces)

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noun

1. birds' faeces

Sensitive Note

See dumb.

Usage

Using this word to refer to people without speech is considered outdated and offensive and should be avoided. The phrase profoundly deaf is a suitable alternative in many contexts

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• muteness
  noun
• mutely
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mutes
  plural

Participles

• muting
  present
• muted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mute
  simple
• mutes
  simple
• have muted
  perfect
• has muted
  perfect
• am muting
  progressive
• are muting
  progressive
• is muting
  progressive
• have been muting
  perfect progressive
• has been muting
  perfect progressive

Past

• muted
  simple
• had muted
  perfect
• was muting
  progressive
• were muting
  progressive
• had been muting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mute
  simple
• will have muted
  perfect
• will be muting
  progressive
• will have been muting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of mute

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English muet, mewet, muwet, from Old French müet, muet, diminutive formation of Old French mu, from Latin mūtus “dumb, inarticulate”; see -et

Explanation

Mute means “silent.” No matter how much you talk to your houseplants, they’ll never talk back; they'll remain mute. When used as a noun, mute can mean “someone who isn't capable of speech" or “a device that deadens the sound of an instrument.” Mute can also be used as a verb meaning "to make silent.” One might mute the television by pressing a button on the remote, or one might try to mute a loquacious individual. Unfortunately, the technology for that last option doesn’t exist yet.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mute mutes muter mutest muted muting

Neill plays the awkward, ignorant Scottish farmer who arranges for a mail-order marriage with Holly Hunter’s mute pianist and then becomes possessive and driven to jealous despair.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

The Italian comedian plays Diego’s mute manservant, Bernardo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

“The coming IPO wave may dampen forward market returns, mute further multiple expansion, and possibly interrupt sector trends,” wrote strategists at BCA Research.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

She stood mute when a reporter confronted her at Los Angeles International Airport about her absence.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

I press myself against the wall and mute JP’s phone.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

Warsh also noted that constant guidance from the Fed mutes useful information from private markets that are often better at assessing prevailing economic conditions.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 19, 2026

Hydralazine acts by binding to and blocking ADO, which means it effectively "mutes" that oxygen alarm.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 2, 2025

The farmers and miners got to hear the most intoxicating music on Earth from brassy cornet players and driving saxophonists, exotic trombone mutes, squealing trumpets and sultry clarinets.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2024

“The minute TikTok mutes a video, they’re obviously not going to push it out to the ‘For You’ page,” said Casterline, 20, referencing the app’s algorithm-based recommendation feed.

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2024

But the two mutes were not lonely at all.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

In vain:—the song that Sappho gave,   In dying, to the mournful sea, Not muter slept beneath the wave   Than this within my memory.

From The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore Collected by Himself with Explanatory Notes by Rossetti, William Michael

At xiv 7 it has the probably correct muter for mittar, also found in Bodleianus Canon. lat.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear

With the exception of muter, these readings could have been recovered by conjecture; given the separative interpolation at iii 44, F differs surprisingly little from the other manuscripts.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear

Not to be slain himself, see Gellius handle his uncle's Lady; no Harpocrates muter, his uncle is hush'd.

From The Poems and Fragments of Catullus by Ellis, Robinson

And muter than ever, pondering deeply, and secretly trembling in the queerest way, these two outwardly sedate young people returned to the Dower House....

From Mr. Britling Sees It Through by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

Particularly in these times, France wants her soldiers mute and professional, and the mutest and most professional is Maurice Gamelin.

From Time Magazine Archive

The flying meteors backward glance On thee to gaze, And bright auroras softly dance In mutest praise; And, to and fro, With motion slow Wave the lamps whence colors flow.

From The Arctic Queen by Unknown

I name for instance, just to hover a little, silent Vanderpool, the mutest presence at the Upham board, and quite with no sense of the invidious in so doing.

From Notes of a Son and Brother by James, Henry

On these occasions my friend would listen to me with the mutest attention.

From Arthur Mervyn Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793 by Brown, Charles Brockden

And himselfe, not I Inclin'd to this intelligence, pronounce The Beggery of his change: but 'tis your Graces That from my mutest Conscience, to my tongue, Charmes this report out Imo.

From Cymbeline by Shakespeare, William

That muted response is in keeping with the film’s blasé attitude toward our tech-heavy world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

The pianos are always muted, the drums all sound like they're being played next door, and the orchestra is buried deep in the mix to foreground Abrams' voice.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

A 20% jump in sales of Boehringer’s human-pharma products made up for a more muted performance in its animal-health business, which posted a 0.4% rise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

While this year's wildfire season has been fairly muted compared to the devastation caused in recent years, there are more than 800 active fires nationwide.

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

Genie was about to ask when there was a muted thump on the door.

From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds

US oil giants reported lower earnings Friday with accounting effects muting the benefits of the Middle East oil shock, as ExxonMobil's CEO cautioned that crude prices could still increase.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

The limited age range for super catch-up contributions may be muting the benefit, according to Miklos Ringbauer, founder and principal of MiklosCPA, an accounting and tax-strategy firm.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 29, 2026

Teen accounts have also been restricted to include direct messaging only with people they follow or are already connected to and automatic muting during nighttime hours.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025

Ferrera knew her job was “to bring dimensions and layers” to her characters while muting the persistent commentary that “this is different.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2024

The bantustan system had been conceived by Dr. H. F. Verwoerd, the minister of native affairs, as a way of muting international criticism of South African racial policies but at the same time institutionalizing apartheid.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• dampen
• soften
• subdue