muteness
muteness — noun
1. an inability or refusal to produce speech — a lasting silence that may come from
an inability or refusal to produce speech — a lasting silence that may come from a medical problem, emotional shock, or a deliberate choice to keep quiet
Doctors traced Tariq's sudden muteness to a stroke that damaged the speech centre of his brain.
muteness caused by a medical condition
After the car crash, Hoa fell into a months-long muteness that worried her family and her teachers.
muteness following emotional trauma
The witness's stubborn muteness in court frustrated the lawyers, but the judge could not force her to answer.
Christopher learned sign language so he could communicate around his brother's lifelong muteness.
A heavy muteness fell over the room when Shanti walked in carrying the bad news.
- silence
a chosen or temporary lack of speech; broader and more everyday than 'muteness'
- speechlessness
usually a brief reaction to shock or strong emotion, not a lasting condition
- aphonia
medical term for loss of voice, narrower and more clinical than 'muteness'
- taciturnity
a personality trait of habitually saying little, not an inability
- speech
the ordinary capacity to produce spoken language
- talkativeness
a tendency to speak freely and often
用法筆記
Used both literally (a physical or psychological inability to speak) and figuratively (a chosen or imposed silence). Frequently paired with adjectives that signal the cause: 'selective muteness', 'sudden muteness', 'stubborn muteness'. Distinguish from 'silence', which is a temporary state anyone can choose, and from 'dumbness', which is dated and now considered offensive.