Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Lacking the faculty of speech.
- adjective Temporarily unable to speak, as through astonishment.
- adjective Refraining from speech; silent.
- adjective Unexpressed or inexpressible in words.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not having or not using the faculty of speech; unable to speak; dumb; mute.
- Refraining or restrained from speech; not speaking, either of purpose or from present inability: as, to stand speechless before one′ s accusers; speechless from terror.
- Characterized by the absence of speech; unexpressed; unattended by spoken words.
- Using few words; concise.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Destitute or deprived of the faculty of speech.
- adjective Not speaking for a time; dumb; mute; silent.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective not
speaking ; not knowing what to say;silent , especially due tosurprise ,amazement , etc.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective temporarily incapable of speaking
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But Dick hushed him with a warning glance directed toward Oh Dear who still held the bronze spurs in speechless helplessness.
CHAPTER XXXI 2010
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Hegan shook his head in speechless sadness and continued to stare.
Chapter XXIII 2010
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The stone walls and wooden elements of the house are impressive design elements, but what can really leave one speechless is the natural environment.
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And speechless is not the right word either, because he ends up saying one word.
sometimes a thesaurus is just no good nathreee 2009
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The stone walls and wooden elements of the house are impressive design elements, but what can really leave one speechless is the natural environment.
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I look at her in speechless conspiratorial despair and .. her lips form the silent word “Help!”.
Take Me To The River Newmania 2007
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I have found the easiest way to render a moonbat speechless is to ask them to back up their rant of the moment with facts.
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If your reading group has decided to treat itself to a Mooreland sojourn, you'll discover that there's plenty to say about the town's most imaginative little girl (even if she did remain speechless until age three).
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The suddenness and the vastness of it took away the breath of the old chief, Kow-Whi, and he could only gaze in speechless wonder.
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They clung to each other in speechless satisfaction as Uncle Henry guided the surrey up to the marble stepping-stone.
Understood Betsy 1917
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