| 释义 |
Definition of dumb in English: dumbadjective dʌmdəm 1predicative Temporarily unable or unwilling to speak. she stood dumb while he poured out a stream of abuse Synonyms speechless, tongue-tied, wordless, silent, at a loss for words, voiceless, inarticulate, taciturn, uncommunicative, untalkative, tight-lipped, close-mouthed, saying nothing - 1.1attributive Resulting in or expressed by speechlessness.
they stared in dumb amazement Example sentencesExamples - We stared at her in dumb amazement before we burst out laughing.
Synonyms speechless, tongue-tied, wordless, silent, at a loss for words, voiceless, inarticulate, taciturn, uncommunicative, untalkative, tight-lipped, close-mouthed, saying nothing
2dated, offensive (of a person) unable to speak, most typically because of congenital deafness. he was born deaf, dumb, and blind Synonyms mute, unable to speak, without the power of speech - 2.1 (of animals) unable to speak as a natural state and thus regarded as helpless or deserving pity.
3North American informal Stupid. Example sentencesExamples - It's too late to ask dumb philosophical questions.
- ‘You're so slow and stupid and dumb,’ she grumbled, opening it and taking out a pencil.
- If they calmly endure his dumb questions and stubborn incomprehension they may end up looking silly, and if they show their irritation they risk coming across as jerks.
- The best answer to those two questions is: those are two really dumb questions; enough hot air has been expended in their name already.
- I couldn't tell if he was being stupid, dumb, or idiotic.
- Right away, Andrew knew what a dumb question he was asking.
- And I suppose it's a bit of a dumb question, but why are fewer companies offering this?
- Do they consider people they have outsmarted or manipulated as dumb or stupid?
- It was a bit of a dumb question, but she needed to ask it.
- Throughout the years, I've had personal contact with some folks that were heavy dope smokers and I always thought they were just extra dumb or extra stupid.
- I hope next time they call, I will be in, so I can ask them really dumb questions and see how stupid I can get away with sounding.
- For some strange, dumb, stupid, pathetic reason, I started laughing.
- It was what had pushed him over the edge, and he was missing now because of her dumb, stupid, irrational comment.
- He wasn't their guardian by any means, but he wasn't about to let two stupid kids make a dumb decision.
- Don't you get one day of declaring your candidacy for the White House before you have to answer a dumb, horse-race question like that?
- She knew she was being dumb and stupid, acting like a little girl.
- They taunt me the most though, they call me stupid and dumb because for my own reasons I pretend not to know the Latin language.
- Those briefings you will remember was where we had dozens and dozens and dozens of new reporters come into the Pentagon who were asking frankly dumb questions.
- I'll never do it again, because it was stupid and irresponsible and dumb, and I could have seriously gotten hurt or something.
- I asked him the usual dumb question about how he took criticism and reviews, and he gave an interesting answer.
Synonyms stupid, unintelligent, ignorant, dense, brainless, mindless, foolish, slow-witted, slow, dull, dull-witted, witless, half-witted, blockish, doltish, dunce-like, simple, simple-minded, empty-headed, vacuous, vapid, idiotic, moronic, imbecilic, cretinous, obtuse, bovine, lumpish 4(of a computer terminal) able only to transmit data to or receive data from a computer; having no independent processing capability. Often contrasted with intelligent Example sentencesExamples - Users could access this centralized computer only by means of dumb terminals.
- I remember playing this one on a dumb DEC terminal connected to a mainframe somewhere; I just can't remember what it was called.
- The hardware that was in use, two PCs and 15 dumb terminals, could handle only data entry.
- The system was accessed by way of dumb terminals and, later, terminal emulators on PCs.
- Why are we still using the equivalent of a dumb block-mode mainframe terminal to connect ourselves to the Internet?
- Their interaction with it was by predetermined procedures or, at the very most, a dumb terminal with as little power and privilege we could give them.
- They are excellent replacements for dumb serial terminals, X terminals and older PCs.
- It is essentially just a dumb program spitting out information that it is given to pass on.
- In other words, it is a node between the dumb router and smart layer control elements that not only touches some of the packet but is involved in more of a control plane manner.
verb dʌmdəm [with object]1dumb downinformal Simplify or reduce the intellectual content of something so as to make it accessible to a larger number of people. the producers categorically deny that they're dumbing down the show Example sentencesExamples - I absolutely disagree that it has been dumbed down.
- Of course, since my essay writing style is just as pretentious as it was throughout school and university, it wasn't too bad to cut it down a bit, I just had to dumb my work down a little!
- How did you make the book accessible without dumbing it down?
- Like the programme itself, the music has been dumbed down until it just about holds an essence of the original without any of the emotion.
- Even though summer means tourist in Boston, I don't dumb the wines down though I do look for flavors that are accessible.
- Unfortunately the combat method has been dumbed down - where once you could string together dextrous sword-fighting moves, now it's just a bludgeoning affair.
- I have become an expert at dumbing things down, but there are facts that won't simplify no matter how much the user wants them to.
- It insults our intelligence, dumbs the global experience down for us into easily digestible particles, and lies when it could really enlighten.
- Still, it's important to have real scientists getting the word out, explaining results, not letting popularizers dumb it down, and not letting people leap to conclusions.
- While maintaining a level of accessibility and providing information are important, this must not dumb the work down, compromise the artists' intentions, or remove the challenge aspect of art that many people thrive on.
- If they've dumbed it down or diluted it, it's finished.
- What they do with these questionnaires, is they dumb the questionnaires down, as the level of intelligence of the population collapses.
- However their experience is depressing: ideas are dumbed down, creativity ignored, and people trashed.
- Anything that doesn't dumb it down but makes it more accessible to people is doing a really good job in my eyes.
- The controls aren't as easy as they were on the previous games, it's very dark and to be honest I think they have dumbed it down too much, too many hints and clues for my liking, making it far too easy to progress through.
- The narrator was calm, clear and educated, there were no unnecessary flashy graphics and above all it wasn't dumbed down.
- But, at the same time, we were not interested in dumbing things down.
- By dogmatically employing ‘news values’ that focus on conflict, drama and simplicity, we get the political stakes raised to the point where political leaders are induced into playing the game of dumbing it down to win the media war.
- On the other hand, if 200 million people read a book, you can be sure that the reason is that the novel has been dumbed down to a low common denominator that can accommodate such a large percentage of the population.
- I have made it clear to the board that what we are not going to do is dumb the hospital down.
Synonyms make simple, make simpler, make easier to do, make easier to understand, make easy to do, make easy to understand, make plainer, clarify, make more comprehensible, make more intelligible, remove the complexities from, disentangle, untangle, unravel - 1.1dumb downno object Become less intellectually challenging.
the need to dumb down for mass audiences Example sentencesExamples - Change is dumbing down to the people who have an interest in what was there.
- The lunch menu dumbs down slightly to make the most of passing trade, but the beetroot and horseradish risotto with honey-glazed goat's cheese is still a few notches up from a scone and jam.
- The ultimate result of dumbing down is not, as its champions would no doubt want to claim, the collapse of cultural hierarchy and privilege.
- What I'm talking about here is a tried and tested tabloid approach: dumb down, sex up and sensationalise.
- No-one has ever shown any net benefit to my knowledge - though there is plenty of evidence that it leads to dumbing down.
- Nods to popular culture have brought inevitable cries of dumbing down but if anything they makes the quiz even more troublesome.
- To use a phrase that's no longer particularly popular any more, the show has dumbed down.
- The show's success bolsters his theory that popular culture, far from dumbing down, is smartening up.
- And how much does television have to do with it, that maligned medium always associated with dumbing down?
- It all went pear shaped around the second half of 1990 when the Big Bloke bought the network back and the wilful dumbing down began with a vengeance.
- UK education ministers continually assert that the education system is not dumbing down - pupils are getting smarter.
- There is no future for a university that dumbs down for short-term gain.
- The most generic blurb about media art is that boredom dumbs down while entertainment enlightens.
- Instead of voluntary dumbing down, there's a steady process of public self-enlightenment.
- The reason why dumbing down and tabloid trivialisation is so widespread is that it works.
- It is not about dumbing down, it is about presenting ourselves in the best possible way.
- So-called marketing experts keep telling me I'll need to dumb down to really capture the mass market but it's simply not in my nature.
- I simply don't believe in dumbing down - it makes me angry.
- I certainly wouldn't recommend dumbing down in the name of accessibility.
- It was trashy, sleazy and every other adjective associated with dumbing down.
2literary Make dumb or unheard; silence. a splendour that dazed the mind and dumbed the tongue
Usage Although dumb meaning ‘not able to speak’ is the older sense, it has been overwhelmed by the newer sense (meaning ‘stupid’) to such an extent that the use of the first sense is now almost certain to cause offence. Alternatives such as speech-impaired should be used instead Phrases finally, through dumb luck, it worked and I got a network connection Example sentencesExamples - I got the job half by dumb luck, and half by knowing what I'm doing.
- But he chafes at the title, since he knows his bravery was just dumb luck.
- Just my dumb luck that my shower doesn't work.
- But Jonathan and Sara sense they are drawn to one another by more than dumb luck or blind chance.
- This reduces a political leader to a gambler who must depend on good timing and dumb luck to take him where he wants to go.
- Don't blame yourself, as this time dumb luck has been beaten out of site by sheer stupidity and you can't guard against that.
- It was plain dumb luck that the grenade hadn't exploded on its own or that my brother-in-law hadn't released the arming lever.
- She escaped, a circumstance she attributes to dumb luck rather than divine intervention.
- I found a good opportunity and after multiple rejections of my business plan, stumbled by dumb luck into my current business partner.
- They depend also, to no small extent, on sheer dumb luck.
Pretend to be unintelligent or unaware in order to deceive someone or gain an advantage. ‘Hide what?’ Aubrey said, still playing dumb Example sentencesExamples - He kept putting me off, and I kept teasing him, playing dumb.
- The audience is never asked to play dumb; we are rarely a step ahead of Mannix.
- Ryan inquired with false innocence, in a particularly piteous attempt to play dumb.
- It's too much work for me to play dumb.
- He tried playing dumb, hoping David would just leave it alone.
- You know what I'm talking about, don't play dumb with me.
- Bryce was no dope, he should have figured it out, maybe he was just playing dumb.
- Of course I understood what he meant right away, but it's easy to play dumb when you're speaking different languages.
- I'm at their mercy, so I play dumb.
- I yelled at him, losing any control I had remaining, " Stop playing dumb!
Derivatives adverb ˈdʌmliˈdəmli When he was done speaking, he kind of ushered me offstage with him, and, dumbly, I followed. Example sentencesExamples - But it's more a question of identity; of doing more than dumbly assenting to every Republican whim.
- Her most obvious talent is an ability to stare dumbly at her interviewees in a manner which, she hopes, suggests interest.
- We all grinned dumbly at him, not one hundred percent sure what to say.
- I was standing there dumbly trying to absorb the enormity of what I had witnessed when it struck me that I had a family to worry about.
noun ˈdʌmnəsˈdəmnəs At the time, it seemed dazzling in its dumbness. Example sentencesExamples - Ear research is in an advanced stage, and dumbness also could be cured.
- So in our dumbness we consumers prefer the inherently unfair multi-line system because we haven't trained our brains to appreciate the merits of single lines.
- Aside from the intrinsic dumbness of the bill itself, there is also the outrageous process by which it was reported out of the conference committee.
- There is no distinction in India between deafness and deaf and dumbness and, because Ian can speak, they have trouble believing that he cannot hear.
Origin Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse dumbr and Gothic dumbs 'mute', also to Dutch dom 'stupid' and German dumm 'stupid'. In Old English dumb signified ‘unable to speak’, and could apply to both humans and animals (dumb beasts). The sense ‘stupid, unintelligent’ dates from the Middle Ages. These days the ‘stupid’ sense has come to dominate the word to such an extent that it has overshadowed the original meaning, so using it in that sense can cause offence. Speech-impaired or a similar alternative is safer. The original meaning does, however, lie behind the dumb-bell (early 18th century), which originally referred to an apparatus similar to that used to ring a church bell but without the bell making it therefore noiseless or ‘dumb’. It is also behind dummy (late 16th century). The original sense was ‘a person who cannot speak’, then (mid 18th century) ‘an imaginary fourth player in whist’. This gave rise to ‘a substitute for the real thing’ (e.g. a rubber teat, a blank round of ammunition), and ‘a model of a human being’ (mid 19th century). A person considered stupid began to be called a dumbo in the USA in the 1950s, probably inspired by the 1941 Disney cartoon film Dumbo, which featured a flying elephant. The elephant's name was probably based on jumbo. Worry about things being dumbed down, or having their intellectual content reduced so as to be accessible to a larger number of people, seems very recent, but the phrase goes back to 1933. See also blonde, dizzy, limb
Rhymes become, benumb, Brum, bum, chum, crumb, drum, glum, gum, ho-hum, hum, Kara Kum, lum, mum, numb, plum, plumb, Rhum, rhumb, rum, scrum, scum, slum, some, strum, stum, succumb, sum, swum, thrum, thumb, tum, yum-yum Definition of dumb in US English: dumbadjectivedəmdəm 1predicative Temporarily unable or unwilling to speak. she stood dumb while he poured out a stream of abuse Synonyms speechless, tongue-tied, wordless, silent, at a loss for words, voiceless, inarticulate, taciturn, uncommunicative, untalkative, tight-lipped, close-mouthed, saying nothing - 1.1attributive Resulting in or expressed by speechlessness.
they stared in dumb amazement Example sentencesExamples - We stared at her in dumb amazement before we burst out laughing.
Synonyms speechless, tongue-tied, wordless, silent, at a loss for words, voiceless, inarticulate, taciturn, uncommunicative, untalkative, tight-lipped, close-mouthed, saying nothing
2offensive, dated (of a person) unable to speak, most typically because of congenital deafness. he was born deaf, dumb, and blind Synonyms mute, unable to speak, without the power of speech - 2.1 (of animals) unable to speak as a natural state and thus regarded as helpless or deserving pity.
3North American informal Stupid. Example sentencesExamples - It was what had pushed him over the edge, and he was missing now because of her dumb, stupid, irrational comment.
- If they calmly endure his dumb questions and stubborn incomprehension they may end up looking silly, and if they show their irritation they risk coming across as jerks.
- The best answer to those two questions is: those are two really dumb questions; enough hot air has been expended in their name already.
- I hope next time they call, I will be in, so I can ask them really dumb questions and see how stupid I can get away with sounding.
- ‘You're so slow and stupid and dumb,’ she grumbled, opening it and taking out a pencil.
- I couldn't tell if he was being stupid, dumb, or idiotic.
- She knew she was being dumb and stupid, acting like a little girl.
- Right away, Andrew knew what a dumb question he was asking.
- They taunt me the most though, they call me stupid and dumb because for my own reasons I pretend not to know the Latin language.
- Don't you get one day of declaring your candidacy for the White House before you have to answer a dumb, horse-race question like that?
- It's too late to ask dumb philosophical questions.
- It was a bit of a dumb question, but she needed to ask it.
- I'll never do it again, because it was stupid and irresponsible and dumb, and I could have seriously gotten hurt or something.
- Those briefings you will remember was where we had dozens and dozens and dozens of new reporters come into the Pentagon who were asking frankly dumb questions.
- For some strange, dumb, stupid, pathetic reason, I started laughing.
- He wasn't their guardian by any means, but he wasn't about to let two stupid kids make a dumb decision.
- I asked him the usual dumb question about how he took criticism and reviews, and he gave an interesting answer.
- Throughout the years, I've had personal contact with some folks that were heavy dope smokers and I always thought they were just extra dumb or extra stupid.
- And I suppose it's a bit of a dumb question, but why are fewer companies offering this?
- Do they consider people they have outsmarted or manipulated as dumb or stupid?
Synonyms stupid, unintelligent, ignorant, dense, brainless, mindless, foolish, slow-witted, slow, dull, dull-witted, witless, half-witted, blockish, doltish, dunce-like, simple, simple-minded, empty-headed, vacuous, vapid, idiotic, moronic, imbecilic, cretinous, obtuse, bovine, lumpish 4(of a computer terminal) able only to transmit data to or receive data from a computer; having no independent processing capability. Often contrasted with intelligent Example sentencesExamples - Why are we still using the equivalent of a dumb block-mode mainframe terminal to connect ourselves to the Internet?
- They are excellent replacements for dumb serial terminals, X terminals and older PCs.
- Users could access this centralized computer only by means of dumb terminals.
- It is essentially just a dumb program spitting out information that it is given to pass on.
- I remember playing this one on a dumb DEC terminal connected to a mainframe somewhere; I just can't remember what it was called.
- Their interaction with it was by predetermined procedures or, at the very most, a dumb terminal with as little power and privilege we could give them.
- The hardware that was in use, two PCs and 15 dumb terminals, could handle only data entry.
- In other words, it is a node between the dumb router and smart layer control elements that not only touches some of the packet but is involved in more of a control plane manner.
- The system was accessed by way of dumb terminals and, later, terminal emulators on PCs.
verbdəmdəm [with object]1dumb downinformal Simplify or reduce the intellectual content of something so as to make it accessible to a larger number of people. critics have accused publishers of dumbing down books Example sentencesExamples - But, at the same time, we were not interested in dumbing things down.
- The controls aren't as easy as they were on the previous games, it's very dark and to be honest I think they have dumbed it down too much, too many hints and clues for my liking, making it far too easy to progress through.
- By dogmatically employing ‘news values’ that focus on conflict, drama and simplicity, we get the political stakes raised to the point where political leaders are induced into playing the game of dumbing it down to win the media war.
- Anything that doesn't dumb it down but makes it more accessible to people is doing a really good job in my eyes.
- I have made it clear to the board that what we are not going to do is dumb the hospital down.
- Like the programme itself, the music has been dumbed down until it just about holds an essence of the original without any of the emotion.
- The narrator was calm, clear and educated, there were no unnecessary flashy graphics and above all it wasn't dumbed down.
- I have become an expert at dumbing things down, but there are facts that won't simplify no matter how much the user wants them to.
- It insults our intelligence, dumbs the global experience down for us into easily digestible particles, and lies when it could really enlighten.
- Still, it's important to have real scientists getting the word out, explaining results, not letting popularizers dumb it down, and not letting people leap to conclusions.
- On the other hand, if 200 million people read a book, you can be sure that the reason is that the novel has been dumbed down to a low common denominator that can accommodate such a large percentage of the population.
- If they've dumbed it down or diluted it, it's finished.
- However their experience is depressing: ideas are dumbed down, creativity ignored, and people trashed.
- What they do with these questionnaires, is they dumb the questionnaires down, as the level of intelligence of the population collapses.
- While maintaining a level of accessibility and providing information are important, this must not dumb the work down, compromise the artists' intentions, or remove the challenge aspect of art that many people thrive on.
- Of course, since my essay writing style is just as pretentious as it was throughout school and university, it wasn't too bad to cut it down a bit, I just had to dumb my work down a little!
- Unfortunately the combat method has been dumbed down - where once you could string together dextrous sword-fighting moves, now it's just a bludgeoning affair.
- How did you make the book accessible without dumbing it down?
- I absolutely disagree that it has been dumbed down.
- Even though summer means tourist in Boston, I don't dumb the wines down though I do look for flavors that are accessible.
Synonyms make simple, make simpler, make easier to do, make easier to understand, make easy to do, make easy to understand, make plainer, clarify, make more comprehensible, make more intelligible, remove the complexities from, disentangle, untangle, unravel - 1.1dumb downno object Become less intellectually challenging.
the need to dumb down for mass audiences Example sentencesExamples - It all went pear shaped around the second half of 1990 when the Big Bloke bought the network back and the wilful dumbing down began with a vengeance.
- No-one has ever shown any net benefit to my knowledge - though there is plenty of evidence that it leads to dumbing down.
- And how much does television have to do with it, that maligned medium always associated with dumbing down?
- Change is dumbing down to the people who have an interest in what was there.
- The reason why dumbing down and tabloid trivialisation is so widespread is that it works.
- Nods to popular culture have brought inevitable cries of dumbing down but if anything they makes the quiz even more troublesome.
- There is no future for a university that dumbs down for short-term gain.
- I simply don't believe in dumbing down - it makes me angry.
- To use a phrase that's no longer particularly popular any more, the show has dumbed down.
- UK education ministers continually assert that the education system is not dumbing down - pupils are getting smarter.
- It is not about dumbing down, it is about presenting ourselves in the best possible way.
- I certainly wouldn't recommend dumbing down in the name of accessibility.
- Instead of voluntary dumbing down, there's a steady process of public self-enlightenment.
- So-called marketing experts keep telling me I'll need to dumb down to really capture the mass market but it's simply not in my nature.
- The most generic blurb about media art is that boredom dumbs down while entertainment enlightens.
- The ultimate result of dumbing down is not, as its champions would no doubt want to claim, the collapse of cultural hierarchy and privilege.
- What I'm talking about here is a tried and tested tabloid approach: dumb down, sex up and sensationalise.
- It was trashy, sleazy and every other adjective associated with dumbing down.
- The show's success bolsters his theory that popular culture, far from dumbing down, is smartening up.
- The lunch menu dumbs down slightly to make the most of passing trade, but the beetroot and horseradish risotto with honey-glazed goat's cheese is still a few notches up from a scone and jam.
2literary Make dumb or unheard; silence. a splendor that dazed the mind and dumbed the tongue
Usage Although dumb meaning ‘not able to speak’ is the older sense, it has been overwhelmed by the newer sense (meaning ‘stupid’) to such an extent that the use of the first sense is now almost certain to cause offense. Alternatives such as speech-impaired should be used instead. See also deaf mute Origin Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse dumbr and Gothic dumbs ‘mute’, also to Dutch dom ‘stupid’ and German dumm ‘stupid’. |