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silent

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
si·lent  (slnt)
adj.
1. Marked by absence of noise or sound; still.
2. Not inclined to speak; not talkative.
3. Unable to speak.
4. Refraining from speech: Do be silent.
5. Not voiced or expressed; unspoken: a silent curse; silent consent.
6. Inactive; quiescent: a silent volcano.
7. Linguistics Having no phonetic value; unpronounced: the silent b in subtle.
8. Having no spoken dialogue and usually no soundtrack. Used of a film.
9. Producing no detectable signs or symptoms: a silent heart attack.
n.
A silent movie.

[Latin silns, silent-, present participle of silre, to be silent.]

silent·ly adv.
silent·ness n.
Synonyms: silent, reticent, reserved, taciturn, laconic, secretive, uncommunicative, tightlipped
These adjectives describe people who are sparing with speech. Silent often implies a habitual disinclination to speak or to speak out: "The coroner was a very silent man" (Mary Roberts Rinehart).
The term may also mean refraining from speech, as out of fear or confusion: "The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he has the right to remain silent" (Earl Warren).
Reticent suggests a reluctance to share one's thoughts and feelings: "She had been shy and reticent with me, and now . . . she was telling me aloud the secrets of her inmost heart" (W.H. Hudson).
Reserved suggests aloofness and reticence: "a reserved man, whose inner life was intense and sufficient to him" (Arnold Bennett).
Taciturn implies unsociableness and a tendency to speak only when it is absolutely necessary: "At the Council board he was taciturn; and in the House of Lords he never opened his lips" (Thomas Macaulay).
Laconic denotes terseness or conciseness in expression, but when applied to people it often implies an unwillingness to use words: "Mountain dwellers and mountain lovers are a laconic tribe. They know the futility of words" (Edna Ferber).
Secretive implies a lack of openness about or even concealment of matters that could in all conscience be discussed: was secretive about my vacation plans.
Uncommunicative suggests a disposition to withhold opinions, feelings, or knowledge from others: an uncommunicative witness.
Tightlipped strongly implies a steadfast unwillingness to divulge information being sought: remained tightlipped when asked about her personal life. See Also Synonyms at still1.

silent [ˈsaɪlənt]
adj
1. characterized by an absence or near absence of noise or sound a silent house
2. tending to speak very little or not at all
3. unable to speak
4. failing to speak, communicate, etc., when expected the witness chose to remain silent
5. not spoken or expressed silent assent
6. not active or in operation a silent volcano
7. (Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) (of a letter) used in the conventional orthography of a word but no longer pronounced in that word the ``k'' in ``know'' is silent
8. (Performing Arts) denoting a film that has no accompanying soundtrack, esp one made before 1927, when such soundtracks were developed
n
(Performing Arts) a silent film
[from Latin silēns, from silēre to be quiet]
silently  adv
silentness  n

silent  (slnt)
1. Relating to a mutation that changes a nucleotide in a codon without a difference in the amino acid for which it is coded. See more at point mutation.
2. Producing no detectable signs or symptoms, as a medical condition such as heart attack.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.silent - marked by absence of sound; "a silent house"; "soundless footsteps on the grass"; "the night was still"
quiet - free of noise or uproar; or making little if any sound; "a quiet audience at the concert"; "the room was dark and quiet"
2.silent - failing to speak or communicate etc when expected to; "the witness remained silent"
incommunicative, uncommunicative - not inclined to talk or give information or express opinions
3.silentsilent - implied by or inferred from actions or statements; "gave silent consent"; "a tacit agreement"; "the understood provisos of a custody agreement"
implicit, inexplicit - implied though not directly expressed; inherent in the nature of something; "an implicit agreement not to raise the subject"; "there was implicit criticism in his voice"; "anger was implicit in the argument"; "the oak is implicit in the acorn"
4.silent - not made to sound; "the silent `h' at the beginning of `honor'"; "in French certain letters are often unsounded"
inaudible, unhearable - impossible to hear; imperceptible by the ear; "an inaudible conversation"
5.silent - having a frequency below or above the range of human audibility; "a silent dog whistle"
inaudible, unhearable - impossible to hear; imperceptible by the ear; "an inaudible conversation"
6.silent - unable to speak because of hereditary deafness
inarticulate, unarticulate - without or deprived of the use of speech or words; "inarticulate beasts"; "remained stupidly inarticulate and saying something noncommittal"; "inarticulate with rage"; "an inarticulate cry"

silent
adjective
1. mute, dumb, speechless, wordless, mum, struck dumb, voiceless, unspeaking They both fell silent.
mute noisy, chattering, rowdy, strident, boisterous, vociferous, riotous, uproarious, obstreperous, clamorous
2. uncommunicative, quiet, taciturn, tongue-tied, unspeaking, nonvocal, not talkative He was a serious, silent man.
3. quiet, still, hushed, soundless, noiseless, muted, stilly (poetic) The heavy guns have again fallen silent.
quiet noisy, loud, piercing, deafening, tumultuous, ear-splitting, cacophonous, clamorous
4. unspoken, implied, implicit, tacit, understood, unexpressed He watched with silent contempt.
Translations
silent [ˈsaɪlənt]
A. ADJ
1. (= noiseless, soundless)
to be silent [person] → quedarse callado; [place, room, street] → estar en silencio
the law is silent on this pointla ley no se pronuncia a este respecto
to fall silent [person] → quedarse callado; [room] → quedar en silencio
the guns have fallen silentel tiroteo ha cesado, las armas han quedado en silencio(liter)
to lie silent [factory, machine] → permanecer parado
the silent majorityla mayoría silenciosa
silent partner (US) → socio/a m/f comanditario/a
I've remained silent for too long on this issuehe guardado silencio sobre este asunto por demasiado tiempo
you have the right to remain silenttiene derecho a permanecer calladono está obligado a responder
to give sb the silent treatmenthacer el vacío a algn
to bear silent witness to sthser mudo testigo de algo
to be as silent as the grave or tombestar silencioso como una tumba
2. (= wordless) [prayer, march, vigil] → silencioso; [contempt, protest] → mudo
she looked at him in silent contemptle miró con mudo desprecio
silent tears ran down her cheekslas lágrimas le corrían silenciosas por la cara
to pay silent tribute to sbhomenajear en silencio a algn
3. (Cine) [film, movie] → mudo
the silent screenel cine mudo
4. (Ling) [letter] → mudo
the "k" in knee is silentla "k" en "knee" es muda or no se pronuncia
B. N
the silents (Cine) → las películas mudas; (as genre) → el cine mudo

silent [ˈsaɪlənt] adj
[person] (not speaking)silencieux/euse
The woman was silent for a moment → La femme resta silencieuse un instant.
to fall silent [person] → se taire
to keep silent (= make no noise) → ne pas faire de bruit (= say nothing on a subject) → garder le silence, ne rien dire
the right to remain silent → le droit de garder le silence
[street, room, engine] → silencieux/euse
to fall silent [guns] → se taire; [streets] → devenir silencieux/euse
[person] (not talkative)silencieux/euse
He's a silent man → C'est un homme silencieux.
to be silent about sth, to keep silent about sth → taire qch
Douglas was silent about his feelings → Douglas taisait ses sentiments.
to remain silent about sth → garder le silence sur qch
[film] → muet(te)
(= unexpressed) [contempt, disapproval, prayer] → silencieux/euse
(PHONETICS) [letter] → muet(te)

silent
adj
still; (= not talking also)schweigsam; engine, machine etc (= running quietly)ruhig; to fall or become silentstill werden; (people also, guns) → verstummen; to keep or remain silentstill sein or bleiben, sich still verhalten; be silent!sei still!; the guns are silentdie Waffen schweigen; ovarian cancer is a silent killerEierstockkrebs tötet auf leise or unbemerkte Art; his father was the strong silent typesein Vater war ein schweigsamer, willensstarker Typ
(= not giving comment) to be silentschweigen; to be silent about or on somethingüber etw (acc)schweigen or Stillschweigen bewahren; the law is silent on this pointdas Gesetz schweigt zu diesem Punkt; to keep or remain silentnichts sagen, sich nicht äußern; he kept completely silent when questioneder sagte kein einziges Wort or überhaupt nichts, als man ihn verhörte; everyone kept silentkeiner sagte etwas; you have the right to remain silentSie haben das Recht zu schweigen; to give somebody the silent treatmentjdn mit Schweigen strafen; a silent witnessein stummer Zeuge, eine stumme Zeugin
(= quiet, wordless) proteststill; agreement, disapproval(still)schweigend attr; silent demonstrationSchweigemarsch m
(Film) silent film (esp Brit) or movie (esp US) → Stummfilm m; the silent eradie Stummfilmzeit
(Ling: = not pronounced) silent letterstummer Buchstabe; the “k” is silent in the word “knee”das Wort „knee“ hat ein stummes „k“; silent “h”stummes „h“
pl the silents (Brit Film) → die Stummfilme pl

silent:
silent majority
n the silentdie schweigende Mehrheit
silent partner
n (US Comm) → stiller Teilhaber or Gesellschafter
silent vigil
nMahnwache f

silent [ˈsaɪlənt] adj (person) → silenzioso/a; (film, prayer) → muto/a
silent "h" → "h" muta
to fall silent → tacere
to keep or remain silent → tacere, stare zitto/a
silent [ˈsaɪlənt] adj (person) → silenzioso/a; (film, prayer) → muto/a
silent "h" → "h" muta
to fall silent → tacere
to keep or remain silent → tacere, stare zitto/a

silent صامت tichý stille still σιωπηλός silencioso hiljainen silencieux tih silenzioso 寡黙な 조용한 stil stille cichy silencioso безмолвный tyst เงียบ sessiz im lặng 沉默的


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And this noisiness, this exultation at the moment of the ship's departure, make a tremendous contrast to the silent moments of her arrival in a foreign roadstead - the silent moments when, stripped of her sails, she forges ahead to her chosen berth, the loose canvas fluttering softly in the gear above the heads of the men standing still upon her decks, the master gazing intently forward from the break of the poop.
Save for such, that big area of common was silent and desolate, and the charred bodies lay about on it all night under the stars, and all the next day.
Denham found himself sitting silent, rejecting possible things to say, beside Katharine, who was silent too.
 
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