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.

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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

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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”; silent

Example Sentences

Thus, the state “seeks to silence a viewpoint she wishes to express.”

From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026

"Your heart is blown to pieces but do you still need to eat dinner and go to work so I'm not stylistically chasing silence, just representing the truth of it."

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

So much of contemporary literature reads like a tortured attempt to negotiate between the irreconcilable positions of righteous expression and guilty silence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Trappist monks, who are officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, live a life of “prayer, silence, study, and manual labor.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026

So we all ate in silence, not a word being spoken between us—until, that is, Mutti left the kitchen, telling us she was going to check on Marlene out in the barn.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

Related Words

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