dumb show
Americannoun
-
a part of a dramatic representation given in pantomime, common in early English drama.
-
gestures without speech.
noun
-
a part of a play acted in pantomime, popular in early English drama
-
meaningful gestures; mime
Other Word Forms
- dumb-show adjective
Etymology
Origin of dumb show
First recorded in 1555–65
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.
But Key is weirdly asked in the dumb show prelude of “The Mousetrap” to do some physical comedy that might have been too ludicrous for his “Key and Peele” comedy show.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2017
At the end we’re returned to dumb show, but here Ms. Pite chooses to outtrump Shakespeare.
From New York Times • Nov. 29, 2012
He grimaces, bugs his eyes out, and hops around in a big dumb show of getting socks out of a drawer and so forth.
From Slate • Jan. 30, 2012
That's Spartacus for you: the big dumb show that's smarter than you think.
From The Guardian • Mar. 21, 2011
Now there was nothing left of the dumb show by the fountain beyond what survived in memory, in three separate and overlapping memories.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
