dumbing

verb

present participle of dumb
as in shushing
to stop the noise or speech of the terrible news dumbed her for a long moment, and then she burst into tears

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dumbing
  1. shushing
  2. silencing
  3. muting
  4. hushing
  5. quieting
  6. settling
Verb
  • Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim went to 3-0 for the week with a crowd-shushing rally from 2 down to a 2-and-1 victory over Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Trae Young won Madison Square Garden’s undying enmity in the 2021 playoffs for the Atlanta Hawks, punctuating game-breaking shots by shushing the crowd or bowing to the fans and waving goodbye.
    — Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 9 June 2026
Definition of shushing
Verb
  • She is whisked off to prison midway through You Can See Everything, all but silencing her for the viewer.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Added to the violence of destruction and looting is the less visible but equally devastating violence of silencing.
    — Ollivier Pourriol, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of silencing
Verb
  • The Broncos’ defense will produce two takeaways, muting 14 receptions by the Rams’ tight ends and running backs.
    — Sam Jane, Denver Post, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Among several solutions such as time limits and muting notifications during certain hours, the changes include giving teens the option to choose to view a non-algorithmic social media feed that isn’t personalized.
    — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of muting
Verb
  • Nelson remembers hushing her foster children back to sleep that night and calling 911, anxious for an end to those sleepless nights.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026
  • If you’re used to traditional decluttering strategies that focus on sorting and purging, house hushing might feel strange.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 July 2026
Definition of hushing
Verb
  • Patrick Mahomes finished the job by scrambling up the middle, simultaneously giving the Chiefs an early lead and quieting some doubts about his reconstructed ACL and LCL.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Use the words that suit the tone of the piece, and that might mean quieting your inner voice, or the voice of your mother.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of quieting
Verb
  • He was educated at Middlebury College, and lived in New York City for 15 years, before settling back on the farm with his wife, Olga, and their children, Fiona and Abraham.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Now, Rupert Murdoch views Fox as a core part of his legacy, as last year’s family trust battle underscores, with his son Lachlan ultimately securing control of the empire after battling (and ultimately settling with) his siblings.
    — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of settling
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

dumbheads
dumbing
dumbing down
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dumbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dumbing. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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