silentadjective
uk/ˈsaɪ.lənt/us/ˈsaɪ.lənt/silent adjective (QUIET)
B1 without any sound:
The empty house was completely silent.
literary It was four o'clock in the morning and the streets were as silent as the grave (= completely silent).
More examples
- We were struck by the silent grandeur of the desert.
- The house seemed preternaturally silent.
- The house, usually bustling with activity, was strangely silent.
- The valley was silent.
- We walked into the silent church.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Silence & quiet
- breath
- hear
- hush
- hushed
- keep it down idiom
- keep sth down
- muffle
- muffled
- mute
- muted
- noiseless
- pindrop silence
- quiet
- quieten
- quietly
- radio silence
- trail
- trail away/off
- under your breath idiom
- you could have heard a pin drop idiom
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silent adjective (NO SPEAKING)
B2 without talking:
She whispered a silent prayer that her wounded brother would not die.
The police officer told the criminal that he had the right to remain silent.
He was silent on/about his plans for the future.
Arthur has always been the strong, silent type (= a type of person, usually a man, who says very little).
More examples
- Later Mr Ashby left the court, grim-faced and silent.
- He gritted his teeth in silent fury.
- We applaud the family's decision to remain silent over the issue.
- We can't assume the suspects to be guilty simply because they've decided to remain silent.
- He looked happy for a brief while, before relapsing into silent misery.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Falling silent and not speaking
- bite
- clam
- gob
- have nothing to say for yourself idiom
- hear
- hold
- hold your tongue idiom
- incommunicado
- keep (yourself) to yourself
- keep your mouth shut idiom
- let sth rest idiom
- lost
- pipe down
- radio silence
- rest
- save your breath idiom
- speak
- speechless
- uncommunicative
- unsaid
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silently
adverb uk/ˈsaɪ.lənt.li/us/ˈsaɪ.lənt.li/
silentnoun [ U ]
uk/ˈsaɪ.lənt/us/ˈsaɪ.lənt/a setting on an electronic device that stops it from making a noise when it receives a message:
The show's about to start so I'm putting my phone on silent.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Communications - general words
- broadband
- buzz
- cable
- caller ID
- communication
- constructive interference
- cybernetics
- destructive interference
- Entryphone
- fibre optics
- fibre-optic cable
- interference
- microwave
- multimedia
- on-screen
- optical fibre
- pick sth up
- relay
- smart card
- telegraph
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