Dummy Meaning
/ˈdʌmi/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA silent person; a person who does not talk.
nounA stupid person.
Sentence Examples
The corporation set up a dummy company.
"h" is a dummy variable.
He made a crash test dummy of himself.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The crash test ____ was placed in the car for the safety experiment.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The corporation set up a ____ company.
Word Origin & History
From dumb + -y. Pacifier sense from dummy teat where dummy is in the sense of a nonfunctional replica.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The man's name […] was engraved in the centre, and beneath this, written in ink with the same elaborate precision as the engraving, there was a brief message.
I am a deaf-mute, but I read the lips and understand what is said to me. Please do not shout.
[…] Singer looked very carefully at his lips when he spoke—he had noticed that before. But a dummy!"
— 1940, Carson McCullers, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter:
""There's a remedy, it does try one, but never mind," said Gubjor; "I shall make a dummy baby, which I shall bury in the churchyard, and then the dead will believe they have got the child, take my word, they won't know but what it is the real baby!""
— 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 304:
"The second method was to use two loadometers under the wheels of one axle, mounting the wheels of the other axle on what we called "equalizing blocks" or "dummies." By that method the two axles are brought into the same horizontal plane […]"
— 1950, National Bureau of Standards Miscellaneous Publication, page 138:
"Then on the fifth day, at the first sleep of the day, remove the dummy and follow my settling guide for your baby′s age. You should throw all her dummies in the bin to ensure you are not tempted to use them again – even outside sleep times."
— 2006, Tizzie Hall, Save Our Sleep: A Parents′ Guide Towards Happy, Sleeping Babies from Birth to Two Years, MacMillan, published 2009, page 200:
"No Fairy baby has ever been seen to suck its thumb or to use a dummy."
— 2008, Bern, Bern's Fairy Tales, page 15:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The crash test ____ was placed in the car for the safety experiment.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The corporation set up a ____ company.