dumbed

verb

past tense of dumb
as in shushed
to stop the noise or speech of the terrible news dumbed her for a long moment, and then she burst into tears

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dumbed
  1. shushed
  2. silenced
  3. quieted
  4. muted
  5. hushed
  6. settled
  7. stilled
Verb
  • As the moment unfolded, Savannah shushed the future king and even briefly placed her hand over his mouth in an effort to keep him composed.
    — Staff Author, InStyle, 13 June 2026
  • The Giants offense got shushed Wednesday night by Shohei Ohtani, and their hitters went down almost as quietly against right-hander Emmet Sheehan.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 15 May 2026
Definition of shushed
Verb
  • Howard County's policy requires all cell phones and other personal tech devices to be out of sight and silenced during the school day.
    — Kellye Lynn, CBS News, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Any talk of loaning the former Leicester City youngster out has been long since silenced by the speed of his development.
    — James Pearce, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of silenced
Verb
  • Even if the political discussion on climate change has quieted, the planet has not.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Aug. 2026
  • That surge has quieted now, as is to be expected whenever a superstar of Grande’s caliber returns.
    — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of quieted
Verb
  • Meta agreed to impose changes including a default two-hour daily time limit for teens across Facebook and Instagram, muted notifications during school hours, and enhanced parental controls, with more updates potentially on the horizon.
    — Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026
  • You may like Notifications will be muted between midnight and 6am and between 8am and 3pm on school days.
    — Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of muted
Verb
  • Salesforce has clearly hushed the skeptics on Wednesday night.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The impact is lavish yet hushed; welcoming yet sharply articulated.
    — Genevieve Walker, Architectural Digest, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of hushed
Verb
  • In many situations, several words could continue a sentence equally well, so the choice is normally settled at random.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Before taking a position, understand what needs to be settled.
    — Joseph M. Singer, HollywoodReporter, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of settled
Verb
  • Rebecca’s hands stilled, and the girl stared at her grandmother, wide-eyed.
    — Rachel Yoder, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Both the Moody Mansion and the 1892 Bishop’s Palace are museums stilled in time and filled with the marks of late 19th-century splendor.
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 15 July 2026
Definition of stilled
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

dumb down
dumbed
dumbed down
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dumbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dumbed. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All