silence

American  

[sahy-luhns] / ˈsaɪ ləns /

noun

1. absence of any sound or noise; stillness.

2. the state or fact of being silent; muteness.

3. absence or omission of mention, comment, or expressed concern.

   the conspicuous silence of our newspapers on local graft.

4. the state of being forgotten; oblivion.

   in the news again after years of silence.

5. concealment; secrecy.

---

verb (used with object)

silenced, silencing

1. to put or bring to silence; still.

   Synonyms:

   gag, muzzle, quell, hush

2. to put (doubts, fears, etc.) to rest; quiet.

3. Military. to still (enemy guns), as by more effective fire.

interjection

1. be silent! “Silence!” the teacher shouted.

silence British  

/ ˈsaɪləns /

noun

1. the state or quality of being silent

2. the absence of sound or noise; stillness

3. refusal or failure to speak, communicate, etc, when expected

   his silence on the subject of their promotion was alarming

4. a period of time without noise

5. oblivion or obscurity

---

verb

1. to bring to silence

2. to put a stop to; extinguish

   to silence all complaint

Other Word Forms

• oversilence
  noun
• unsilenced
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of silence

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English (noun), from Old French, from Latin silentium, derivative of silēre “to be quiet”; cf. silent

Explanation

Silence is quietness, or a lack of sound. When you silence a noisy movie-goer, you shush her. When there's silence, nothing is heard. Silence is empty, the opposite of a noisy racket. A library is one place where there's supposed to be silence so people can concentrate. To silence someone is to hush him up or tell him to be quiet. Silence also has a more disturbing meaning: if someone threatens you to keep you from saying something, she's trying to silence you. Censorship silences free speech.

Example Sentences

A Thousand Blows is also up for the prestigious best drama prize alongside last year's winner Blue Lights, plus Code of Silence and This City is Ours.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Bellowing "Silence, everyone!" to terrified parliamentarians, the man with a bushy moustache and shiny tricorn quickly caught the public's attention in an image engraved on the nation's collective memory.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

Saxon, who produced “The Silence of the Lambs,” is also well aware that physical media can be a “nice piece of business for the studios.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026

Silence after your mother became upset and chose not to discuss the issue further is not an ethical failure on your part, nor is accepting an inheritance she wishes you to have.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 26, 2026

Silence in the parsonage as Reverend Buckminster and Mr. Stonecrop looked at Turner for a long moment.

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt

Related Words

• cut off
• gag
• muffle
• mute
• muzzle
• quash
• quell
• squelch
• stifle
• subdue
• suppress