silent
- 01 B1 Intermediate
adj.making no noise or sound; completely quiet.
adj.characterised by a total absence of sound or noise; perfectly still.
Simple“The library was completely silent as everyone was focused on their exams.”
In context“The forest was eerily silent after the storm, with not even the rustle of a leaf to break the stillness.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
adj.not talking or refusing to speak.
adj.refraining from speech; remaining mute or taciturn in a social or formal context.
Simple“He remained silent during the meeting because he didn't want to argue.”
In context“The defendant chose to stay silent throughout the interrogation, following the advice of his legal counsel.”
SynonymsAntonymstalkativeloquacious - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.a letter in a word that is written but not spoken.
adj.referring to a grapheme that has no phonetic value in a specific word's pronunciation.
Simple“The 'k' in the word 'knife' is silent.”
In context“Learners often struggle with the silent 'b' in words like 'debt' and 'subtle' because the spelling contradicts the phonetic output.”
SynonymsunpronouncedmuteAntonyms - 04 B1 Intermediate
adj.having the sound or ringer turned off on a phone or computer.
adj.referring to a device setting that suppresses audible alerts or notifications.
Simple“Please put your phones on silent before the movie begins.”
In context“The executive kept her smartphone on silent mode during the presentation to ensure there were no digital distractions.”
Synonyms - 05 C1 Advanced
adj.happening without any clear signs or symptoms.
adj.referring to a condition or process that is undetected or undiagnosed due to a lack of overt symptoms.
Simple“High blood pressure is often called a silent killer because you cannot feel it.”
In context“The patient suffered a silent heart attack, which was only discovered months later during a routine electrocardiogram.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 06 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a movie made before films had recorded talking or sound.
n.a motion picture produced without a synchronised recorded soundtrack, typical of the era before the late 1920s.
Simple“Charlie Chaplin was a very famous star of the silents.”
In context“The museum is hosting a retrospective of 1920s silents, accompanied by a live pianist to recreate the original cinema experience of that period.”
Antonyms
From Latin silēns (“silent”), present participle of sileō (“be silent”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyl- (“still, windless, quiet, slow”). Related to Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌽 (anasilan, “to cease, grow still, be silent”), Old English sālnes (“silence”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.