speechless

CEFRB2

/ˈspiːt͡ʃ.lɪs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Unable or unwilling to speak because of strong emotion or surprise.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Synonym of unspeakable.

Examples

  • The woman was so surprised as to be speechless.

  • I'm appalled. You leave me speechless.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Not speaking; not knowing what to say; silent, especially due to surprise, amazement, etc.; wordless.

More examples

In context

  • When he walked into his surprise birthday party, he was completely speechless.

  • They were left speechless.

  • The attack was so unwarranted and delivered with such venom that his unpreparedness for it left him speechless.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The unexpected news left me completely blank; I couldn't say a word.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English specheles, from Old English sprǣċlēas (“speechless; without the power of speak”), from Proto-Germanic *sprēkalausaz, equivalent to speech + -less. Cognate with West Frisian sprakeleas (“speechless”), Dutch sprakeloos (“speechless”), German Low German spraaklos (“speechless”), German sprachlos (“speechless”).