mutism means the inability to speak, be it from psychological or physical cause. It carries an Arena rating of 1522, earned across 20 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, mutism ranks #2 of 13,217 for Most Incisive Words, #1,661 of 13,217 for Most Malleable Words, #2,529 of 13,217 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,878 of 13,217 for Most Vivid Words.
mutism is pronounced /ˈmjuːtɪzəm/.
Why “mutism” is a great word
MUTISM — [Noun] A clinical condition of persistent, involuntary inability to speak, typically due to psychological or physical cause. From French *mutisme* (1741), from Latin *mutus* ("mute, silent") + the suffix *-isme* (-ism). Unlike "aphasia," which denotes a specific neurological loss of language, or "silence," which is a chosen or circumstantial quiet, mutism is the imposed arrest of speech. It is the unbroken line of a child's mouth in a strange classroom, the dense weight of words trapped behind the teeth, or the profound quiet of a room where a telephone never rings—a stillness not of peace, but of paralysis, where the world's loud commerce continues just beyond a pane of glass.
Etymology
From French mutisme, from Latin mutus (“mute”), equivalent to mute + -ism.
noun
- The inability to speak, be it from psychological or physical cause.
Words closest in meaning
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