dumb

?? 發布時間：2026-06-30 07:42:17

英 [d?m] 美[d?m]

adj. 啞的，無說話能力的；不說話的，無聲音的

CET4TEM4IELTS考研CET6TOEFL低頻詞核心詞匯

詞態變化

第三人稱單數:?dumbs;過去式:?dumbed;現在分詞:?dumbing;比較級:?dumber;最高級:?dumbest;副詞:?dumbly;名詞:?dumbness;? dumbing down;

助記提示

1. du(毒) + m(妹妹) + b(把) => 把妹妹毒啞了。
2. dumb 大默（總是沉默不語，謂之大默）　= 啞的。
3. 大智若愚，大默無言。

中文詞源

dumb 啞的

來自PIE*dheu, 煙塵，煙霧，詞源同dust, deaf, dull. 引申詞義笨拙的，啞的。

英文詞源

dumb: dumb: [OE] The notion underlying dumb is of ‘sensory or mental impairment’. It goes back to a nasalized version of prehistoric Indo-European *dheubh-, denoting ‘confusion, stupefaction, or dizziness’, which was also the ultimate source of English deaf. This developed two stands of meaning. The first, through association of ‘sensory or mental impairment’ and ‘slowwittedness’, led to forms such as German dumm and Dutch dom, which mean ‘stupid’ (the use of dumb to mean ‘stupid’ did not develop until the 19th century, in American English, presumably under the influence of the German and Dutch adjectives).

The other was semantic specialization to a particular sort of mental impairment, the inability to speak, which produced Gothic dumbs, Old Norse dumbr, and English dumb. (The German word for ‘dumb’, stumm, is related to English stammer and stumble, as are Dutch stom and Swedish stum.) Dummy [16] is a derivative; it originally meant ‘dumb person’.
=> deaf, dummy
dumb (adj.): Old English dumb "silent, unable to speak," from PIE *dheubh- "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness," from root *dheu- (1) "dust, mist, vapor, smoke," and related notions of "defective perception or wits."

The Old English, Old Saxon (dumb), Gothic (dumbs), and Old Norse (dumbr) forms of the word meant only "mute, speechless;" in Old High German (thumb) it meant both this and "stupid," and in Modern German this latter became the only sense. Meaning "foolish, ignorant" was occasionally in Middle English, but modern use (1823) comes from influence of German dumm. Related: dumber; dumbest.

Applied to silent contrivances, hence dumbwaiter. As a verb, in late Old English, "to become mute;" c. 1600, "to make mute." To dumb (something) down is from 1933.

雙語例句

1. The questions were set up to make her look dumb.: 問題這么設計，就是為了讓她出丑。

2. The snowy street, like the church, assumed a dumb, lifeless aspect.: 積雪覆蓋的街道就像教堂一樣，顯得沉悶、毫無生氣。

3. An expression of dumb recognition wiggled across her features.: 她不語，從她臉上掠過的一絲表情可知她是認得的。

4. It's the media that's dumb.: 讓人惱火的是媒體。