mumble
to speak in a low indistinct manner, almost to an unintelligible extent; mutter.
to chew ineffectively, as from loss of teeth: to mumble on a crust.
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.
a low, indistinct utterance or sound.
Origin of mumble
1synonym study For mumble
Opposites for mumble
Other words from mumble
- mumbler, noun
- mum·bling·ly, adverb
- half-mumbled, adjective
- un·mum·bled, adjective
- un·mum·bling, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use mumble in a sentence
I ran out of questions to ask, I asked where he lived, and he started mumbling, and then he told me the story.
For everyone else, it was a change in the weather, an appearance of the real, Brando mumbling in a movie.
The Stacks: How Leonard Chess Helped Make Muddy Waters | Alex Belth | August 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTPatton said that as she lay down to sleep that night she heard her husband mumbling.
Well, they stopped mumbling for a start, and then their stories rattled into life.
His wide blue eyes, baby face, and soft, mumbling voice are less pronounced than they are onscreen.
Casey Affleck, Star of ‘Out of the Furnace,’ on His Hollywood Struggles | Marlow Stern | December 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Whatever it was, the rebuke was convincing, for the woman dropped her hoe and went mumbling into the house.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinHe remembered the mumbling old woman in her chair; but most of all he remembered the girl who sat opposite him.
The Cromptons | Mary J. HolmesSprawling across the table, his huge head lying upon his hands, she beheld the Chief Factor, mumbling in incoherent phrases.
Menotah | Ernest G. HenhamThe voices outside the gate sank into a low confused mumbling.
John Ingerfield and Other Stories | Jerome K. JeromeNina, delighted to see the animal once more, was caressing his long ears and mumbling baby-talk to him.
The Tigress | Anne Warner
British Dictionary definitions for mumble
/ (ˈmʌmbəl) /
to utter indistinctly, as with the mouth partly closed; mutter
rare to chew (food) ineffectually or with difficulty
an indistinct or low utterance or sound
Origin of mumble
1Derived forms of mumble
- mumbler, noun
- mumbling, adjective
- mumblingly, adverb
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
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