silent means free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet. It carries an Arena rating of 1493, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, silent ranks #679 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #977 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words, #1,749 of 17,120 for Most Beautiful Words, #6,460 of 17,118 for Most Ponderous Words.
silent is pronounced /ˈsaɪ̯lənt/.
Why “silent” is a great word
Free from sound or noise; not speaking or making noise. From the Latin silēns ("being quiet"), present participle of sileō ("be silent"), from Proto-Indo-European *seyl- ("still, windless, quiet, slow"), first recorded in English 1555–65. Unlike "taciturn," which implies a temperamental reserve, or "still," which denotes an absence of motion, "silent" describes a condition of pure auditory void. It is the heavy hush of deep snow absorbing the world, the held breath in a concert hall before the first note, and the mute witness of ancient stones in a deserted square—a presence defined entirely by what it lacks, a space where meaning must be imagined, not heard.
Etymology
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”).
adj
- Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.e.g.“How silent is this town!”
- Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.e.g.“Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men.”
- Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed.e.g.“The winds were silent, all the waves asleep, / And heaven was trac'd upon the flattering deep”
- Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent.e.g.“The e is silent in fable.”
- Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.e.g.“Cause […] silent, virtueless, and dead.”
- With the sound turned off; usually on silent or in silent mode.e.g.“My phone was on silent.”
- Without audio capability.e.g.“The Magnavox Odyssey was a silent console.”
- Hidden, unseen.e.g.“a silent voter; a silent partner”
- Of an edit or change to a text, not explicitly acknowledged.e.g.“silent revisions; a silent emendation”
- Not implying significant modifications which would affect a peptide sequence.
- Undiagnosed or undetected because of an absence of symptoms.
- Of distilled spirit: having no flavour or odour.
noun
- That which is silent; a time of silence.e.g.“Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night.”
- A silent movie
- A member of the Silent Generation.
Words closest in meaning
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