adjective, verb
adjective (dumber, dumbest)
1 (old-fashioned, sometimes offensive) unable to speak:
She was born deaf and dumb.
HELPNOTE Dumb used in this meaning is old-fashioned and can be offensive. It is better to use speech-impaired instead.
2 temporarily not speaking or refusing to speak:
We were all struck dumb with amazement. * We all sat there in dumb silence.
3 (informal, especially AmE) stupid:
That was a pretty dumb thing to do. * If the police question you, act dumb (= pretend you do not know anything). * In all her early movies she always played a dumb blonde.
dumbly adverb:
'Are you all right?' Laura nodded dumbly.
dumbness noun [U]
