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dumb

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dumb¹

  • /dʌm/
  • /ɖəm(b)/ South Asia

Where it comes from

From Middle English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, ineffectual”), from Old English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, unable to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *dumb, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz (“dull, dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”).

The senses of stupid, unintellectual, and pointless, which are found regularly since the 19th century only, probably developed under the influence of German dumm and Dutch dom. Just like the English word, these originally meant "lacking the power of speech", but they developed the aforementioned senses early on.

Cognates

Cognate with Scots dumb (“dumb, silent”), North Frisian dom, domme (“dumb, stupid”), West Frisian dom (“dumb, stupid”), Dutch dom (“dumb, stupid”), German dumm (“dumb, stupid”), Danish dum (“stupid”), Swedish dum (“stupid”), Icelandic dumbur (“dumb, mute”). See also deaf.

adjective dumber · dumbest

  1. dated Unable to speak; lacking power of speech. deaf, dumb, and blind

    Similar: mute, speechless, wordless

  2. archaic Not talkative; taciturn or unwilling to speak.
  3. dated Having no input or voice in running things. Life was never a May-game for men; in all times the lot of the dumb-millions born to toil was defaced with manifold sufferings, injustices, heavy burdens, avoidable and unavoidable; not play at all, but hard work that made the sinews sore, and the heart sore.
  4. dated, usually, of things Unaccompanied by words or speech, silent, wordless. dumb show
  5. dated Not producing any sound, silent. […] Thro’ lands where not a leaf was dumb; ⁠But all the lavish hills would hum The murmur of a happy Pan: […]
  6. derogatory, especially, informal, of a person Stupid. You are so dumb! You don't even know how to make toast!

    Similar: feeble-minded, idiotic, moronic, stupid, addlebrained, addlepated, airheaded, bee-brained, beef-witted, soft, beefheaded, beetle-headed · Opposite: intelligent, smart

  7. figuratively Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value. This is dumb! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!

    Similar: banal, brainless, dopey, silly, stupid, ridiculous, vulgar

  8. Lacking some functionality or property ordinarily characteristic of its kind.
  9. of technology Not equipped with intelligent behavior or processing capabilities of its own.

    Opposite: smart

  10. obsolete, rare Lacking brightness or clearness as a colour; dim, dull. Her stern, which was painted of a dumb white or dun color.

dumb²

  • /dʌm/
  • /ɖəm(b)/ South Asia

Where it comes from

From Middle English dumben, from Old English *dumbian (found in the compound ādumbian (“to become mute or dumb; keep silence; hold one’s peace”)), from Proto-Germanic *dumbijaną, *dumbōną (“to be silent, become dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with German verdummen (“to become dumb”).

verb dumbs · dumbing · dumbed

  1. dated, transitive To silence. […] what I would have spoke Was beastly dumbed by him.
  2. transitive To make stupid. I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.
  3. transitive To represent as stupid. Bad-mouthing Neanderthals […] is symptomatic of a need to exclude and even demonize. […] I suggest that the unproven dumbing of the Neanderthals is an example of the same cultural preconception.
  4. transitive To reduce the intellectual demands of. The ensuing storm caused the department to lower the bar—amid protests that this was dumbing the test down—so that only 80 percent of urban kids would fail.

dumb³

  • /dʌm/
  • /ɖəm(b)/ South Asia

Where it comes from

A minced oath of damn.

adverb

  1. not comparable Very, extremely. "What, you don't like your food?" Russo asks. ¶ "Are you kidding? It's dumb good."

    Similar: type, mad, hella, wicked, odee, bare

adjective more dumb · most dumb

  1. dated An intensifier expressing contempt; damn, damned. Pap came to stand beside her and watched the two play. "That pup has just plum' fell in love with our Sammy, an' Sam's real took by him," Pap said. "It's a dumb shame, too. I talked to Jim, but he's not of a mind to sell."

DUMB⁴

noun DUMBs

  1. alternative Alternative form of D.U.M.B. (deep underground military base)

adjective

  1. mnemonic, not comparable An acronym for remembering desirable characteristics for goal-setting: dream-driven, uplifting, method-driven, behavior-driven. Whatever your goals, starting with a DUMB goal gives a great outline and starting off point to start building your plan of action.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: speechless, mute, dull, inarticulate, silent, unarticulate, stupid, slow, dim, dense, obtuse, deaf, dummy, weak, lowbrow, brainless

Translations

Every language

adj stupid

Españoltonto, mentecapto, adundado, sandio
日本語愚かな oroka na, ばかな baka na
中文蠢 chǔn, 笨 bèn
Portuguêsburro, idiota
Françaisstupide, débile, idiot, niais, bête
Deutschdumm, idiotisch
Italianostupido
Ελληνικάχαζός chazós
Русскийтупо́й tupój, глу́пый glúpyj, дурно́й durnój
العربيةغَبِيّ ḡabiyy
עבריתמְטֻמְטָם metumtam, טִפֵּשׁ tipesh

adj pointless or unintellectual

Españoltonto, mentecapto
日本語実のない mi no nai
Portuguêsestúpido
Françaisbête stupide
Deutschsinnlos, dümmlich, dumm
Italianostupido
Русскийбессмы́сленный bessmýslennyj

verb to make stupid

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MLA

"dumb." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dumb. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dumb. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dumb

Chicago

"dumb." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dumb.

BibTeX
@misc{dumb_2026,
  title = {dumb},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dumb},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}