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Synonyms

silent treatment

American  

noun

  1. an act or instance of maintaining silence or aloofness toward another person, especially as a means of indicating disapproval or rejection.

Etymology

Origin of silent treatment

First recorded in 1945–50

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.

‘He thinks nothing of spending $40K on a new car’: My husband gives me the silent treatment.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 9, 2025

About times he’d argued with his wife and given her the silent treatment.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 20, 2025

"I was on probation, I didn't know this person. I thought he might make my life hard at work, that he might give me the silent treatment," she said.

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2024

PSG supporters kept protesting at Parc des Princes by giving their team the silent treatment.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2024

I decide to continue giving him the silent treatment.

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

Definitions 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.