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dumb

[duhm]
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adjective, dumb·er, dumb·est.
  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.Compare intelligent(def 4).
  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 Phrases
  1. dumb down, Informal. to make or become less intellectual, simpler, or less sophisticated: to dumb down a textbook; American movies have dumbed down.
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Origin of dumb

before 1000; Old English; cognate with Old Norse dumbr, Gothic dumbs, Old Saxon dumb, Old High German tump, German dumm
Related formsdumb·ly, adverbdumb·ness, nounqua·si-dumb, adjectivequa·si-dumb·ly, adverb

Usage 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 hearing-impaired 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 Deaf signals membership in this community.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dumbly

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The men were too astonished to reply, but gazed at her dumbly.

  • Dumbly she caught her breath, waiting for the bawling out she'd earned.

  • The old man, leathery-faced, with a fine yellow moustache, looked at him dumbly.

    Dream Town

    Henry Slesar

  • Renouard, his hand grasping the back of a chair, stared down at him dumbly.

    Within the Tides

    Joseph Conrad

  • She had looked at him, dumbly, and he had rushed away, leaving her unforgiven.

    Glory of Youth

    Temple Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for dumbly

dumb

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 speechdumb animals
  3. temporarily lacking or bereft of the power to speakstruck dumb
  4. refraining from speech; uncommunicative
  5. producing no sound; silenta dumb piano
  6. made, done, or performed without speech
  7. informal
    1. slow to understand; dim-witted
    2. foolish; stupidSee also dumb down
  8. (of a projectile or bomb) not guided to its target
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Derived Formsdumbly, adverbdumbness, noun

Word Origin

Old English; related to Old Norse dumbr, Gothic dumbs, Old High German tump
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dumbly

dumb

adj.

Old English dumb "silent, unable to speak," from PIE *dheubh- "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness," from root *dheu- (1) "dust, mist, vapor, smoke," and related notions of "defective perception or wits."

The Old English, Old Saxon (dumb), Gothic (dumbs), and Old Norse (dumbr) forms of the word meant only "mute, speechless;" in Old High German (thumb) it meant both this and "stupid," and in Modern German this latter became the only sense. Meaning "foolish, ignorant" was occasionally in Middle English, but modern use (1823) comes from influence of German dumm. Related: dumber; dumbest.

Applied to silent contrivances, hence dumbwaiter. As a verb, in late Old English, "to become mute;" c.1600, "to make mute." To dumb (something) down is from 1933.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper