Meaning & use
silent
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Making no sound, or with no noise at all.
Grammar: Goes before a noun or after be: a silent room, the room was silent.
Patterns
- fall silent
- remain silent
- go silent
The house was silent after the children left.
Please keep your phone silent during the movie.
A silent crowd watched the ceremony.
adjectivecomparable
Not speaking, either because you choose not to or because you are unable to.
Grammar: Often after verbs like stay or remain: he stayed silent.
Patterns
- stay silent
- keep silent about something
He stayed silent when the police questioned him.
She was silent about her plans.
The witness remained silent for a long time.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Of a letter, written in a word but not pronounced.
Grammar: Appears mainly in the phrase silent letter.
Patterns
- a silent letter
The k in knife is silent.
English has many words with a silent e.
The b in lamb is silent.
adjectivebefore a noun
Without spoken dialogue, as in an early film.
Grammar: Used mostly in silent film.
Patterns
- a silent film
We watched a silent film with live piano music.
Silent movies relied on gestures.
Many stars of the silent era lost their careers.
Word forms
| comparative | more silent |
|---|---|
| superlative | most silent |
Common combinations
- fall silent
- The room fell silent when she walked in.
- silent letter
- The w in write is a silent letter.
- remain silent
- You have the right to remain silent.
- silent film
- Charlie Chaplin made many silent films.
- silent partner
- He's a silent partner in the business.
- silent treatment
- She gave him the silent treatment for days.
Synonyms and how they differ
- quiet
- Quiet means low in noise, while silent means no sound at all.
- mute
- Mute means unable or unwilling to speak, a stronger and sometimes medical term.
- noiseless
- Noiseless stresses movement without sound, while silent covers voices too.
- tacit
- Tacit means understood without being said, unlike silent which is the actual absence of sound.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: silent or quiet?
silent vs quiet
Quiet means making little sound, while silent means making none; a quiet room may still have faint noise.
Practice
Which letter is silent in the word knife?
Choose one answer.
The k at the start of knife is not pronounced. The n, i and f are all sounded.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “silent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.