muteness

muteness — 名詞

1. an inability or refusal to produce speech — a lasting silence that may come from

1.名詞C1
釋義

緘默；無語

無法或不願開口說話的狀態

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

例句

Doctors traced Tariq's sudden muteness to a stroke that damaged the speech centre of his brain.

醫生追查 Tariq 突發性緘默的原因，發現是中風損傷了他大腦的語言中樞。

muteness caused by a medical condition

After the car crash, Hoa fell into a months-long muteness that worried her family and her teachers.

車禍之後，Hoa 陷入長達數月的緘默，讓家人和老師都很擔心。

muteness following emotional trauma

同義詞
  • 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

反義詞
  • 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.

常見錯誤

❌He suffers from a muteness.
✅He suffers from muteness.
💡uncountable; do not use 'a' or plural form.
❌Her muteness was very loud yesterday.
✅Her silence was very loud yesterday.
💡'muteness' refers to a condition or extended state, not a one-off pause in conversation.