mute
adjective
\ ˈmyüt
\
\
muter;
mutest
Definition of mute
(Entry 1 of 4)
1
: unable to speak : lacking the power of speech
2
: characterized by absence of speech: such as
a
: felt or experienced but not expressed
touched her hand in mute sympathy her mute hostility
b
: refusing to plead directly or stand trial
the prisoner stands mute
3
: remaining silent, undiscovered, or unrecognized
The hounds generally hunt mute, so they can get close to the game.
4a
: contributing nothing to the pronunciation of a word
the b in plumb is mute
b
: contributing to the pronunciation of a word but not representing the nucleus of a syllable
the e in mate is mute
mute
nounDefinition of mute (Entry 2 of 4)
1
: stop sense 9
2
sometimes offensive
: a person who cannot speak
3
: a device attached to or inserted into a musical instrument to soften or alter its tone
mute
verb (1)
muted;
muting
Definition of mute (Entry 3 of 4)
1
: to muffle, reduce, or eliminate the sound of
mute
verb (2)
muted;
muting
Definition of mute (Entry 4 of 4)
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Synonyms for mute
Synonyms: Adjective
inarticulate, speechless, voiceless
Synonyms: Noun
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Examples of mute in a Sentence
Adjective
They hugged each other in mute sympathy. I could see a mute plea for help in his eyes.Noun
I was practicing my trumpet at three in the morning when the mute fell out, and I managed to wake everyone up.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Its included remote now comes with dedicated buttons for power, volume, and mute, as well as an IR transmitter that gives it a modicum of control over various soundbars, cable boxes, and AV equipment. — Jeff Dunn, Ars Technica, "Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick brings 4K, HDR, and Dolby Atmos for $50," 3 Oct. 2018 Not even TVs on mute, or TVs showing old movies or TVs behind a pillar. — Polly Campbell, Cincinnati.com, "Where to not watch March Madness in Cincinnati," 13 Mar. 2018 Gritty, a furry monster who's mute save for some squeaky hands, was coaxed out of hiding when the Flyers renovated their arena, the team said in his profile. — Scottie Andrew And Brian Ries, CNN, "A 7-year-old hockey fan wanted a prosthetic leg that repped his favorite team, and Gritty was happy to surprise him," 25 June 2019 Whitman invented a poetry specific to this language and open to the kinds of experience, peculiar to democracy in a polyethnic society on a vast continent, that might otherwise be mute. — Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, "How to Celebrate Walt Whitman’s Two-Hundredth Birthday," 17 June 2019 An actress rendered mute by emotional pain removes to an isolated beach house with a nurse as her only companion. — Los Angeles Times, "Here are the feature and TV films airing the week of Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019," 11 Aug. 2019 On a quiet Wednesday afternoon, the cries of the 13-year-old deaf-mute follow you from room to room. — oregonlive.com, "Wordless terror and the world’s refugees: Steve Duin," 2 Aug. 2019 The mother, Teresa (Adriana Barraza, Oscar nominated for Babel), goes about her murderous duties, sometimes with the assistance of her mute handyman (Neil Sandilands, The Americans), with total dispassion. — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Coyote Lake': Film Review," 31 July 2019 If the butterflies circle around his gut like planes waiting to land at LAX, the internal chaos remains on mute. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Padres’ door-slamming closer Kirby Yates understated, undeterred," 20 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Squads of trumpeters and trombonists, outfitted in combat gear and wearing mutes like auxiliary weapons, scampered up and down the darkened aisles. — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, "Karlheinz Stockhausen Composes the Cosmos," 17 June 2019 That helps avoid the desire to go on mute and have side conversations. — Jenna Schnuer, Fortune, "Turn Remote Worker Pains Into Possibilities With a Pairing of Tech and Talk," 15 June 2019 This program allows a customer to put the phone on mute and patch telemarketing calls to a robot, which understands speech patterns and inflections and works to keep the caller engaged. — Christopher Mele, New York Times, "Robocalls Flooding Your Cellphone? Here’s How to Stop Them," 11 May 2017 Instead Fisher jogged into the dugout, his enthusiasm mute, akin to if this — a home-run robbery to keep a tie game intact — was routine. — Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, "Astros return to standard operating procedure in win over Mariners," 19 Apr. 2018 His microphone stays on mute for more than a minute before the footage ends. — Anita Chabria, Emily Zenter, Ryan Lillis, Nashelly Chavez, Ellen Garrison And Molly Sullivan, sacbee, "New Stephon Clark videos raise questions about time taken to render medical aid | The Sacramento Bee," 16 Apr. 2018 Directed by Jeff Baena, the film picks up when a hunky groundskeeper (Dave Franco), who’s introduced to the wild girls as a deaf mute to keep them at bay, arrives on the premises. — Sara Aridi, New York Times, "What’s on TV Tuesday: ‘Roseanne’ and ‘Splitting Up Together’," 27 Mar. 2018 The scene Bright white walls, neon blue signage, a soccer match (Peru versus Iceland) playing on mute, and customers chatting vivaciously in Spanish. — Kara Baskin, BostonGlobe.com, "Celeste in Union Square is small, loud, and happy," 5 Apr. 2018 All the while, Fox News played on mute above his head, its chyrons questioning whether Sessions was about to be fired. — Molly Ball, Time, "Jeff Sessions Is Winning for Donald Trump. If Only He Can Keep His Job," 29 Mar. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
There also exists the issue of police departments editing footage — a common and often non-controversial activity to mute or blur the identity of children or victims shown in videos, but which can also be used to remove important evidence. — Austen Erblat, sun-sentinel.com, "South Florida police department is latest to equip cops with body cameras," 10 Sep. 2019 Stock trading has been muted the past few weeks as investors have waited to get a sense of how U.S. corporations fared in the first quarter. — Donato Paolo Mancini, WSJ, "U.S. Stocks Slip on Mixed Earnings," 15 Apr. 2019 Some pillars of Trump support have been muted in their response. — David Z. Morris, Fortune, "Prominent Trump Supporters Skeptical, Uncertain, and 'Sick' as Syria Attack Undermines Isolationist Promises," 14 Apr. 2018 Most members of the Chilobrachys spider genus have muted brown, black or grey coloring. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, "Turquoise-Tinted Tarantula Discovered in Sri Lanka," 27 Aug. 2019 Activists and Democratic officials have generally been muted in their criticism of a top party financier who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past decade. — Shane Goldmacher, New York Times, "Can $100 Million Buy a Spot at the Debate?," 27 Aug. 2019 The response from other politicians has been muted. — The Economist, "Politicians are stoking anti-refugee sentiment in Lebanon," 22 Aug. 2019 The radio can be muted until the driver and front passenger seat belts are fastened, and the radio's maximum volume can be set to a lower level. — Dallas News, "Chevrolet adds a Buckle To Drive feature to its Teen Driver safety system," 22 Aug. 2019 For obvious reasons, Missy Elliott muted her surreal visuals to pay tribute in earnest. — Brian Josephs, Billboard, "Every Missy Elliott Music Video, Ranked," 14 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The projected left tackle, who tore an Achilles’ tendon last summer, held his own in a nice battle with nose tackle Mike Pennel, and then teamed with Ted Karras to mute Chase Winovich and Byron Cowart. — Jim Mcbride, BostonGlobe.com, "Patriots trade for Atlanta tight end Eric Saubert," 12 Aug. 2019 Morrison knew the real danger of being muted, but also of not being fully seen. — Lynell George, Los Angeles Times, "Appreciation: Toni Morrison was both a mirror and a map who reflected experience back to us," 6 Aug. 2019 The radio can be muted until the driver and front passenger seat belts are fastened, and the radio's maximum volume can be set to a lower level. —