silent
marked by absence of sound
How often you will meet it
Rank 589 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 33,040 times across 173,643 chapters — 0.016% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
adjective
- marked by absence of sound also: soundless, still a silent housesoundless footsteps on the grass
- failing to speak or communicate etc when expected to also: mum the witness remained silent
- implied by or inferred from actions or statements also: tacit, understood gave silent consenta tacit agreement
- not made to sound also: unsounded the silent `h' at the beginning of `honor'in French certain letters are often unsounded
- having a frequency below or above the range of human audibility a silent dog whistle
- unable to speak because of hereditary deafness also: dumb, mute
silent in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by.
The White Christmas and other Merry · Walter Ben Hare · Chapter 1
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With the silent forest thick about him Bobby realized that he was no longer alone.
The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1
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These broken sentences were repeated more than once, and then she stood silent as though in a dream still.
Christian's Mistake · Dinah Maria Mulock Craik · Chapter 1
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But hitherto the emotion had remained in him as a silent ache, veiling with sadness the beauty that evoked it.
Ethan Frome · Edith Wharton · Chapter 1
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He pictured to himself with silent amusement the tedious luncheon that he had missed by staying so long with Basil Hallward.
The Picture of Dorian Gray · Oscar Wilde · Chapter 1