mute

1 of 4

adjective

muter; mutest
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.
4
a
: 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
mutely adverb
muteness noun

mute

2 of 4

noun

plural mutes
1
: a device attached to or inserted into a musical instrument to soften or alter its tone
2
3
dated, offensive : a person who lacks the ability to speak

mute

3 of 4

verb (1)

muted; muting

transitive verb

1
: to muffle, reduce, or eliminate the sound of
2
: to tone down : soften, subdue
mute a color

mute

4 of 4

verb (2)

muted; muting

intransitive verb

of a bird
: to evacuate the cloaca

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
First, mute further notifications from that group chat. Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 4 Mar. 2024 Last year the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max shipped with a new (mechanical) Action Button, replacing the traditional mute switch that normally sits on the left side of the device. Jon Porter, The Verge, 19 Jan. 2024 Use the smart Fn keys to send emojis, mute and unmute your mic, or activate dictation; functions that can be customized using the keyboard’s free app. Jessica MacDonald, Travel + Leisure, 10 Jan. 2024 Two of Maram’s uncles, Naseem and Ramadan, who were born deaf and mute, have been sheltering there with their families. Mosab Abu Toha, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023 The Grammy winner treated fans by performing the mute challenge. Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 23 Dec. 2023 There is much to bear mute evidence of the loving care of the generations that have gone before. Bill Frist, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024 Though the Aztecs mounted runs that brought Viejas to full throat, the Rams found ways to hit the mute button. Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2024 Explore the quick start guide to find staple controls like power on and off, volume and mute, navigation arrows, and a menu. Stack Commerce, Popular Science, 25 Jan. 2024
Noun
After accidentally starting a wildfire, 7-year-old Lu, mute and from an abusive home, slyly tricks Merribelle, a hardworking trans woman, into kidnapping her — sparking a beautifully unexpected bond with a devastating expiration date. Vulture, 12 Dec. 2022 After accidentally starting a wildfire, 7-year-old Lu, mute and from an abusive home, slyly tricks Merribelle, a hardworking trans woman, into kidnapping her – sparking a beautifully unexpected bond with a devastating expiration date. Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Dec. 2022 Aminatta had come to Kissy from a crowded low-income neighborhood in the city, mute and immobile with a depression that had never been treated. New York Times, 11 Apr. 2022 Don’t be the miming mute everyone is tired of reminding. Stacey Hanke, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2021 Idealizing the beauty of the bucolic landscape often minimizes the labor tied to it, and so Yu disrupts any sense of the natural world as mute and pleasant. Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2021 Lenin, too, suffered from manic rage and erratic behavior, and died in his early fifties confined to a wheelchair after multiple strokes left him mute and paralyzed. Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 1 Apr. 2016 Other nice-to-have features include some ruggedness in the design, so the phone doesn’t need a case, IP68 water, and dust resistance, a hardware mute switch, and eSIM support. Chris Smith, BGR, 18 May 2022 In the other courtroom, Brooks could be seen speaking to himself and making hand gestures while on mute. Eric Levenson and Rebekah Riess, CNN, 6 Oct. 2022
Verb
The loss meant the Lakers’ celebration of a James accomplishment would again be muted. Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024 Its 4,000 square feet to the original’s 800 is big enough to hold more tables but not so cavernous that Blue Collar’s cozy feeling will be muted. Connie Ogle, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024 These include default screen time limits for teen users, the ability for parents to mute their child’s notifications and tweaks to the app’s algorithms to avoid repeatedly serving users videos on potentially problematic topics, such as dieting or sadness. Clare Duffy, CNN, 27 Feb. 2024 If the music has a UMG license, it should be muted, the spokesperson said – noting the company will protect its copyrights. Wyatte Grantham-Philips, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Feb. 2024 All videos containing music from the label's artists are now muted with a message noting the sound was removed due to copyright restrictions. Taijuan Moorman, The Enquirer, 1 Feb. 2024 Swaths of songs from superstars like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Post Malone could be made unavailable, and thousands of videos featuring those songs potentially muted. Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2024 But with the spacecraft’s ability to properly communicate still unclear, the celebration of clapping and high-fives in the mission control center was muted. Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2024 After about 15 minutes, the feed was muted to allow for questioning in private. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024
Verb
Some days, Aalayah Eastmond asks friends to mute the television so the sound of gunshots won’t frighten her. Sun Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2023 Facebook attempted to mute the majority of political posts in its efforts to avoid controversy, according to internal documents. Christopher Hutton, Washington Examiner, 5 Jan. 2023 Tap that to mute yourself. WIRED, 28 Oct. 2022 Other new features will be added in addition to the screen time limits, such as a weekly recap of time in the app, and added parental controls that can mute notifications and provide additional information on app usage. Julia Landwehr, Health, 8 Mar. 2023 The platform is also expanding Family Pairing, and will allow parents to filter out certain words and hashtags, set screen time limits and set schedules to mute TikTok notifications. Morgan Sung, NBC News, 1 Mar. 2023 The ability to mute or play two sounds at once is a valuable feature. Nancy Jo Adams, Popular Mechanics, 16 Feb. 2023 Finally, the cameraman, stuck inside a tiny booth designed to mute the sound of the camera, dies of heatstroke. Vulture, 31 Jan. 2023 In July, the Austin American-Statesman published two versions of a surveillance video from the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex., that left 19 children and two adults dead in May — but decided to mute the sound of children screaming. Jeremy Barr, Washington Post, 28 Jan. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mute.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective, Noun, and Verb (1)

Middle English muet, mut, from Anglo-French, from mu, mute, from Latin mutus, probably from mu, representation of a muttered sound

Verb (2)

Middle English, from Anglo-French *meutir, short for ameutir, alteration of Old French esmeltir, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch smelten to melt, make fluid, defecate (of birds)

First Known Use

Adjective

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb (1)

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mute was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near mute

Cite this Entry

“Mute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mute. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mute

1 of 3 adjective
muter; mutest
1
: unable to speak
2
: felt but not expressed in words
mute sympathy
3
: not pronounced : silent
the mute "b" in "thumb"
mutely adverb
muteness noun

mute

2 of 3 noun
1
: a person who cannot or does not speak
2
: a device attached to or inserted into a musical instrument to reduce, soften, or muffle its tone
3

mute

3 of 3 verb
muted; muting
1
: to muffle or reduce the sound of
2
: to tone down
muted his criticism

Medical Definition

mute

1 of 2 adjective
muter; mutest
: unable to speak : lacking the power of speech
muteness noun

mute

2 of 2 noun
dated, offensive : a person who lacks the ability to speak

More from Merriam-Webster on mute

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