muttermut‧ter /ˈmʌtə $ -ər/ ●●○ verb 
‘I never want to come here again,’ he muttered to himself. Elsie muttered something I couldn’t catch and walked off. ‘He’s such an unpleasant man,’ Alyssia muttered under her breath.mutter about What are you two muttering about?► see thesaurus at say2[intransitive] to complain about something or express doubts about it, but without saying clearly and openly what you thinkmutter about Some senators muttered darkly about the threat to national security.—mutter noun [singular]: His voice subsided to a mutter.—muttering noun [countable, uncountable]: The mutterings about his leadership continued to grow.
WORD ORIGINmutter
Origin:
1300-1400 Probably from the soundVERB TABLE
mutter
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | mutter |
| he, she, it | mutters | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | muttered |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have muttered |
| he, she, it | has muttered | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had muttered |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will mutter |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have muttered |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am muttering |
| he, she, it | is muttering | |
| you, we, they | are muttering | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was muttering |
| you, we, they | were muttering | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been muttering |
| he, she, it | has been muttering | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been muttering |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be muttering |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been muttering |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- ""Why do I have to do all the work?'' she muttered.
- "Sometimes she is such a pain," Jake muttered.
- Grant went out, muttering something about having to see a client.
- He was always muttering to himself about all the experiments he had to do that week.
- They both muttered something about homework and walked away.
- He muttered something inaudible and withdrew.
- He was always muttering to himself about all the experiments he had to do that week.
- I muttered something about helping and followed her out.
- Sometimes her lips moved and she muttered something in a low tone.
- There has been much muttering among the aggrieved franchisees about the possibility of legal action.
- They muttered comments and corrections to each other.
THESAURUSdifferent ways of saying something
to say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your full voice: · ‘Don’t wake the baby,’ Jenny whispered.
to say something quietly without pronouncing the words clearly: · He mumbled his thanks.
to say something quietly, especially when you are annoyed but do not want someone to hear you complaining: · ‘This is ridiculous,’ he muttered under his breath.· She muttered something about having to go home early.
to say something in a soft slow gentle voice: · She stroked his hair and murmured, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be all right.’
to say something in a low angry voice: · ‘As I was saying,’ Lewis growled, ‘it needs to be finished today.’
to say something in a nasty angry way: · ‘Get out of my way!’ he snarled.
to say something suddenly and loudly: · ‘How beautiful!’ she exclaimed.
to suddenly say something without thinking, especially something embarrassing or secret: · It was partly nervousness that had made him blurt out the question.
to speak with a lot of pauses and repeated sounds, because you have a speech problem, or because you are nervous or excited: · ‘I’ll, I’ll only be a m-moment,’ he stammered.
Longman Language Activatorto say something quietly or unclearly to say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your voice: · "Don't wake the baby,'' whispered Jemima.· You don't have to whisper - there's no one around.whisper something in somebody's ear: · Fran leant over and whispered something in her sister's ear.
to say something quietly, especially when you are annoyed but do not want someone to hear you complaining: · "Why do I have to do all the work?'' she muttered.· Grant went out, muttering something about having to see a client.mutter to yourself: · He was always muttering to himself about all the experiments he had to do that week.
to say something quietly without pronouncing the words clearly, so that it is difficult to understand: · He mumbled something I didn't hear.mumble that: · All I could do was mumble that I regretted I hadn't taken my degree.mumble a reply/an apology/your thanks etc: · Kaye could only mumble an apology.
to say something in a soft low voice, that is difficult to hear clearly: · He began stroking her hair and gently murmuring her name.· The child murmured something in its sleep.· She heard the priest murmuring a prayer at the front of the church.
to say something extremely quietly, especially a criticism or something rude, so that no one will hear what you are saying: · "Stupid idiot,'' he said under his breath as the old man walked away.
to say a few words in a low rough voice, especially when you are not really interested in what someone is saying to you: · "What about a stripy wallpaper for this room?'' "I dunno,'' he grunted.· She grunted something I didn't catch.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY ‘He’s such an unpleasant man,’ Alyssia muttered under her breath.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[intransitive, transitive] to speak in a low voice, especially because you are annoyed about something, or you do not want people to hear youmutter to yourself ‘He’s such an unpleasant man,’ Alyssia muttered under her breath. (=say it quietly, especially because you are embarrassed)· He bumped into me and mumbled an apology.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Brother Salvator Rivera cleared up the untouched dishes at nine P.M., muttering darkly about the waste of food.· He glared back ferociously so they reverted to the cakes, muttering darkly.
NOUN· Greatly relieved, he muttered under his breath and crossed himself several times.· He muttered something beneath his breath about the blessings of the blind.· She was darting back and forth across the clutter on the floor, tweaking cords and muttering beneath her breath.· Sheridan muttered under his breath several times, making the people he was sitting with uncomfortable.· He was ill-washed and stubble-chinned and he muttered beneath his breath.· But the Tarvarian only muttered something under his breath, and spat left and right.
· Mirabilis continued to stab the picture, muttering low-voiced curses, looking up at the walls where the pigeon was still standing.· She cast her eyes skywards, muttering soft curses.· I shivered and muttered a curse.· He held his hand in the air, muttering Swahili curses as I wound the fabric round.· Sir John had then stamped off, muttering curses about public officials who didn't seem to care.
· As always, he muttered incomplete words, unfinished sentences.· Robbie muttered the words under her breath.· If they have the Blackshard with them, the Oracle will simply mutter some words of warning and vague threat.· She accepted the glass and muttered a word of thanks.· He muttered a few words and his companions chuckled.
VERB· She began to mutter again and he leaned forward to listen.· He settled back, shut his eyes, began to mutter.· He began softly to mutter the final act of contrition to himself.
· As I worked at my translations I heard him mutter and grunt at his desk.· Behind me, as I rang for the elevator, I heard muttering.· For four weeks we have heard telecasters mutter about the margin of error.· Good, Cassius heard himself mutter, but knew he had meant Bad.· As one of them turned away Carrington heard him mutter something, undoubtedly obscene.
‘I never want to come here again,’ he muttered to himself. Elsie muttered something I couldn’t catch and walked off. ‘He’s such an unpleasant man,’ Alyssia muttered under her breath.mutter about What are you two muttering about?► see thesaurus at say2[intransitive] to complain about something or express doubts about it, but without saying clearly and openly what you thinkmutter about Some senators muttered darkly about the threat to national security.—mutter noun [singular]: His voice subsided to a mutter.—muttering noun [countable, uncountable]: The mutterings about his leadership continued to grow.