silent

[sahy-luhnt]

adjective

1. making no sound; quiet; still.

   a silent motor.

   Synonyms: soundless
   Antonyms: noisy

2. refraining from speech.

3. speechless; mute.

4. not inclined to speak; taciturn; reticent.

   Antonyms: talkative

5. characterized by absence of speech or sound.

   a silent prayer.

6. unspoken; tacit.

   a silent assent.

7. omitting mention of something, as in a narrative.

   The records are silent about this crime.

8. inactive or quiescent, as a volcano.

   Synonyms: dormant

9. not sounded or pronounced.

   The “b” in “doubt” is a silent letter.

10. Movies.,  not having spoken dialogue or a soundtrack.

11. Medicine/Medical.,  producing no symptoms.

    silent gallstones.

noun

1. Usually silents. silent films.

silent

/ ˈsaɪlənt /

adjective

1. characterized by an absence or near absence of noise or sound

   a silent house

2. tending to speak very little or not at all

3. unable to speak

4. failing to speak, communicate, etc, when expected

   the witness chose to remain silent

5. not spoken or expressed

   silent assent

6. not active or in operation

   a silent volcano

7. (of a letter) used in the conventional orthography of a word but no longer pronounced in that word

   the ``k'' in ``know'' is silent

8. denoting a film that has no accompanying soundtrack, esp one made before 1927, when such soundtracks were developed

noun

1. a silent film

silent

1. Relating to a mutation that changes a nucleotide in a codon without a difference in the amino acid for which it is coded.

2. See more at point mutation

3. Producing no detectable signs or symptoms, as a medical condition such as heart attack.

Other Word Forms

• silently adverb
• silentness noun
• oversilent adjective
• oversilently adverb
• oversilentness noun
• supersilent adjective
• supersilently adverb
• unsilent adjective
• unsilently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of silent¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin silent-, stem of silēns “being quiet,” present participle of silēre “to be quiet”; akin to Old English sālnes “silence”

Word History and Origins

Origin of silent¹

C16: from Latin silēns, from silēre to be quiet

Synonym Study

See still ¹.

Example Sentences

All of that leaves investors latching onto Williams’s language—not because it is definitive, but because it is one of the few available signals before the Fed falls silent.

Read more on Barron's

All of that leaves investors latching onto Williams’s language—not because it is definitive, but because it is one of the few available signals before the Fed falls silent.

Read more on Barron's

We imagine a stranger on the train will put their headphones on when we chat them up, so we stay silent even though most people are uplifted by conversation.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

She had her first hit in the silent era; her penultimate act job was in a “Night Gallery” episode directed by a young Steven Spielberg.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But two entities with an interest in the case’s outcome have been silent: the state of California and UC itself.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• hushed 
• mum 
• mute 
• restrained 
• reticent