dumb
adjectiveverbadverbadjectivecommon in dialogue
- //dʌm//
- //ɖəm(b)//
Stupid.
adjective
- 1
datedUnable to speak; lacking power of speech.
deaf, dumb, and blind
His younger brother was born dumb, and communicated with sign language.
to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures
The country people frequently ſay,—How can you treat a poor dumb beaſt ill; and a ſtreſs is very properly laid on the word dumb; for dumb they appear to thoſe who do not obſerve their looks and geſtures; but God, who takes care of every thing, underſtands their language...
- 2
archaicNot talkative; taciturn or unwilling to speak.
- 3
datedHaving 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
datedUnaccompanied by words or speech, silent, wordless.
dumb show
Since you are tongue-tied and so loath to speak In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts
O let my books be then the eloquence And dumb presagers of my speaking breast […]
to pierce into the dumb past
- 5
datedNot 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
informalStupid.
You are so dumb! You don't even know how to make toast!
- 7
figurativePointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
This is dumb! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!
Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.
- 8
Lacking some functionality or property ordinarily characteristic of its kind.
- 9
Not equipped with intelligent behavior or processing capabilities of its own.
- 10
obsoleteLacking brightness or clearness as a colour; dim, dull.
Her stern, which was painted of a dumb white or dun color.
Etymology
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 mentioned 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.
verb
- 1
datedTo silence.
[…] what I would have spoke Was beastly dumbed by him.
The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.
- 2
To make stupid.
I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.
- 3
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
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.
Etymology
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”).
adverb
- 1
Very, extremely.
"What, you don't like your food?" Russo asks. ¶ "Are you kidding? It's dumb good."
Yo this shit is crazy how these females are making these doctors rich. My baby moms Miracle is getting surgery in a week or so. She's flying out to Colombia. That shit really baffles me as far as she's concerned, because Miracle is already dumb thick. I'm like damn ma, how big do you want your ass to be?
Etymology
A minced oath of damn.
adjective
- 1
datedAn 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."
Forms
- comparative
- dumber, more dumb
- superlative
- dumbest, most dumb
- past tense
- dumbed
- past participle
- dumbed
- present participle
- dumbing
- third person singular
- dumbs