How to Use the silent treatment in a Sentence
the silent treatment
noun-
Adults do so hate the silent treatment.
—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
16 Jan. 2026
-
Holman, at times, had to endure racist jokes and slurs, and got the silent treatment from some.
—
Karen Kucher,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Jan. 2026
-
Is the silent treatment a healthy form of communication?
—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
5 Aug. 2025
-
What about even more subtle behavior, such as parents criticizing each other or giving one another the silent treatment?
—
Angela J. Narayan,
The Conversation,
9 June 2026
-
Unlike taking space to cool down, which is a much healthier strategy, the silent treatment is used specifically to make the other partner feel uneasy.
—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
25 Aug. 2025
-
Partners may opt for the silent treatment by deliberately withdrawing themselves from communication with the other.
—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
25 Aug. 2025
-
But according to the United Kingdom’s Telegraph, Modi has been giving Trump the silent treatment.
—
Jamie McIntyre,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Davis didn’t have anything to say to Allen — and the silent treatment continued after the team landed in the Bay Area and boarded buses to the team’s training facility in Alameda.
—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the silent treatment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Last Updated:
