silence
Americannoun
-
silences
plural
-
absence of any sound or noise; stillness.
-
the state or fact of being silent; muteness.
-
absence or omission of mention, comment, or expressed concern.
the conspicuous silence of our newspapers on local graft.
-
the state of being forgotten; oblivion.
in the news again after years of silence.
-
concealment; secrecy.
verb (used with object)
-
silences,
present (3rd person singular)
-
silenced,
past participle, past
-
silencing
present participle
interjection
noun
-
the state or quality of being silent
-
the absence of sound or noise; stillness
-
refusal or failure to speak, communicate, etc, when expected
his silence on the subject of their promotion was alarming
-
a period of time without noise
-
oblivion or obscurity
verb
-
to bring to silence
-
to put a stop to; extinguish
to silence all complaint
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
silencesimple
-
silencessimple
-
have silencedperfect
-
has silencedperfect
-
am silencingprogressive
-
are silencingprogressive
-
is silencingprogressive
-
have been silencingperfect progressive
-
has been silencingperfect progressive
Past
-
silencedsimple
-
had silencedperfect
-
was silencingprogressive
-
were silencingprogressive
-
had been silencingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing silence
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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.
See Examples For:
A minute's silence was held earlier at the Royal National Mòd, Scotland's annual celebration of Gaelic culture and language, which is taking place in Glasgow.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
I think up until then I couldn’t really have moments of silence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Once the immune threat has passed, other proteins modify BCL6 so that it can no longer silence those genes.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
At the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which was also devastated by the attack, mourners sat in silence in assembled chairs as they watched the raising of an Israeli flag.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
At last we were seated again and silence reigned upstairs.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Using very little musical scoring, sticking to naturalistic dialogue featuring awkward silences, and eschewing flashy cinematography and editing, he allows each scene to breathe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Over more than 10 years and 100 dates, Dimoldenberg's awkward flirting, deadpan silences and willingness to overshare has made her channel an unmissable stop for any celeb, single or not.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The company recently began clinical trials of a treatment that silences the genetic instructions for the Alzheimer’s tau protein.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
It suggests that no other irreversible power to immunize lurks in the Constitution’s silences.
From Slate ● May 26, 2026
Each night, just as I was dozing off to sleep, I would hear a light tapping on Aunt Maggie’s windowpane, a door creaking open, whispers, then long silences.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
When the researchers genetically silenced the somatostatin neurons, the mice that received the cannabinoid became less likely to avoid the predator odor.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
“This represents an important victory for the principle that women who speak out about sexual abuse should not be silenced by NDAs that contravene California law,” Barnett attorney Rosengart said in the notice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Finneas, the brother of pop star Billie Eilish, said artists should "not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed".
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” said Finneas, one of those openers, on social media.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The twins snickered, but their mother silenced them with a hiss.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Researchers have explored gene silencing approaches using siRNAs, antisense oligonucleotides, and CRISPR.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
The Fed’s blackout period begins Sept. 5, silencing policymakers until the day after the meeting ends.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
"Calling it swinging implies consent, and therefore puts the blame at the feet of the women, and that makes it silencing for those women."
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Eliminating the host nation and silencing tens of thousands of American fans wasn’t enough.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Koffi pressed a finger to her lips, silencing Ekon with a sharp look, then gestured for Badwa to continue.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
