DUMB | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
/ Sign up
English (UK)

Meaning of dumb in English

dumb
adjective
uk
/dʌm/ us
/dʌm/

dumb adjective (SILENT)

C1 old-fashioned offensive
unable to speak:
Children like this used to be described as "deaf and dumb".
temporarily unable to speak, for example because you are very surprised or shocked:
She was struck dumb by what she had seen.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Falling silent and not speaking
See more results »

dumb adjective (STUPID)

B2 mainly US informal
stupid :
Are they brave or just dumb?
What a dumb idea!
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
stupid
  • stupidSome people are too stupid to realize what's bad for them.
  • foolishShe was really foolish to quit her job like that.
  • sillyIt was silly of you to go out in the sun without a hat.
  • crazyYou'd be absolutely crazy to marry that man.
  • dumbUS She was terrified of asking dumb questions.
See more results »
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Stupid and silly
See more results »

dumb adjective (DEVICE)

A dumb device cannot connect to the internet, or cannot operate independently using computer technology:
Radio receivers were dumb devices - copper coils, essentially.
The kit turns a dumb bomb into a smart bomb by attaching a GPS system.
See also
dumbphone
dumb terminal
Opposite
smart
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Computer concepts
See more results »

Related word

dumbness
(Definition of dumb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

dumb | American Dictionary

dumb
adjective
us
/dʌm/

dumb adjective (STUPID)

Add to word list Add to word list
[ -er/-est only ] infml
stupid:
Don’t say anything – just act/play dumb (= pretend to be stupid or not to know something).

dumb adjective (SILENT)

[ not gradable ]
permanently or temporarily unable to speak
(Definition of dumb from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
What is the pronunciation of dumb?
 

Translations of dumb

in Chinese (Traditional)
沈默的, 啞的, 說不出話的…
See more
in Chinese (Simplified)
沉默的, 哑的, 说不出话的…
See more
in Spanish
mudo, estúpido, tonto/ta [masculine-feminine]…
See more
in Portuguese
mudo, burro, idiota…
See more
in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
मुका, मुकी, अवाक होऊन निशब्द…
See more
頭の悪い, 口のきけない, ばかな…
See more
aptal, gerzek, dilsiz…
See more
stupide, muet/-ette, niveler par le bas…
See more
estúpid, mut…
See more
stom, dom…
See more
பேச முடியவில்லை, தற்காலிகமாக பேச முடியவில்லை, எடுத்துக்காட்டாக…
See more
गूँगा, मूक, (आश्चर्य या सदमे के कारण) मौन…
See more
મૂક, મૂંગું, અવાચક…
See more
stum, stille, dum…
See more
stum, tyst, mållös…
See more
bisu, membisu, bodoh…
See more
stumm, sprachlos, still…
See more
dum, stum, fordumme…
See more
گونگا, کسی المناک یا انہونے واقعہ پر کچھ دیر کے لئے کسی کا گونگا ہوجانا, بے وقوف…
See more
німий, мовчазний, безсловесний…
See more
глупый, немой…
See more
మూగ, తాత్కాలికంగా మాట్లాడలేకపోయింది, ఉదాహరణకు మీరు చాలా ఆశ్చర్యపోతారు లేక షాక్ అవుతారు…
See more
غَبي, أخْرَس, أبْكَم…
See more
বোবা, মূক, হতবাক…
See more
němý, mlčenlivý, pitomý…
See more
bisu, membisu, tolol…
See more
ใบ้, ไม่พูด, ทึ่ม…
See more
câm, lặng đi, rất ngu đần…
See more
głupi, tępy, niemy…
See more
멍청한, 벙어리의…
See more
cretino, idiota, muto…
See more
Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool
 

Browse

dully
dulse
duly
dum BETA
dumb
dumb show
dumb something down
dumb terminal
dumb waiter

Word of the Day

gyroscopically

UK
/ˌdʒaɪ.rəˈskɒp.ɪ.kəl.i/
US
/ˌdʒaɪ.rəˈskɑː.pɪ.kəl.i/

with the use of a gyroscope (= a device containing a wheel that spins freely within a frame, used on aircraft, ships, etc. to help keep them horizontal)

About this

Blog

Varied and diverse (Talking about differences, Part 1)

New Words

WFB

More new words
has been added to list
To top
Contents
EnglishAmericanTranslations
English (UK)   Change
English (UK) English (US) Español Русский Português Deutsch Français Italiano 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Polski 한국어 Türkçe 日本語 Tiếng Việt Nederlands Svenska Dansk Norsk हिंदी বাঙ্গালি मराठी ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు Українська
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Danish English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
Contents
My word lists

To add dumb to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add dumb to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: