ALL meanings of dumbly
dumb
D d - adjective dumbly lacking intelligence or good judgment; stupid; dull-witted. 1
- adjective dumbly lacking the power of speech (offensive when applied to humans): a dumb animal. 1
- adjective dumbly temporarily unable to speak: dumb with astonishment. 1
- adjective dumbly refraining from any or much speech; silent. 1
- adjective dumbly made, done, etc., without speech. 1
- adjective dumbly lacking some usual property, characteristic, etc. 1
- adjective dumbly performed in pantomime; mimed. 1
- adjective dumbly Computers. pertaining to the inability to do processing locally: A dumb terminal can input, output, and display data, but cannot process it. Compare intelligent (def 4). 1
- adjective dumbly Nautical. (of a barge) without means of propulsion. (of any craft) without means of propulsion, steering, or signaling. 1
- noun dumbly In a dumb (meaning silent) manner; mutely or silently. 1
- noun dumbly Dumb in the sense “lacking the power of speech” is perceived as insulting when describing humans (but not animals), probably because dumb also means “stupid; dull-witted.” The noun dummy in the sense “person who lacks the power of speech” is also perceived as insulting, as are the terms deaf-and-dumb, deaf-mute, and mute. The adjective hearing-impaired is acceptable though not the term of choice, partly because it lacks directness. The preferred term is deaf, which makes no reference to an inability to speak or communicate; the capitalized Deaf signals membership in this community. 1