Silent Meaning
/ˈsaɪ̯lənt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjFree from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
adjNot speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.
Sentence Examples
Students must keep silent during class.
Be silent in the library, boys.
At last the traffic fell silent.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The students were completely ____ during the exam as the teacher watched.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The predator was incredibly ____ as it stalked its prey through the thick forest.
Word Origin & History
From Latin silēns (“silent”), present participle of sileō (“be silent”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyl- (“still, windless, quiet, slow”). Related to Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌽 (anasilan, “to cease, grow still, be silent”), Old English sālnes (“silence”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"How silent is this town!"
— c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
"The voice of the auctioneer is slow and low […]; after a pause, which seems no silenter than the rest of the transaction, he ceases to repeat the bids, and his fish, in the measure of a bushel or so, have gone for a matter of three shillings."
— 1906, William Dean Howells, Sidney Dillon Ripley, Certain Delightful English Towns: With Glimpses of the Pleasant Country Between, Harper & Brothers, page 152:
"Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men."
— 1725–1726, Homer, “(please specify the book or chapter of the Odyssey)”, in [William Broome, Elijah Fenton, Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:
"This new-created world, whereof in hell / Fame is not silent."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"Tothero is silent before replying. His great strength is in these silences; he has the disciplinarian's trick of waiting a long moment while his words gather weight."
— 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 38:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The students were completely ____ during the exam as the teacher watched.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The predator was incredibly ____ as it stalked its prey through the thick forest.