as in silence
incapacity for or restraint from speaking
the speechlessness of our cat never seemed so frustrating as the time that it was seriously sick
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Recent Examples of speechlessness
Both men regularly bash Trump during their monologues, but the president’s tirade against the Pope left them puzzled to the point of near-speechlessness.
—
Zack Sharf, Variety, 14 Apr. 2026
Both brothers were intellectually precocious, but Scott could be shy to the point of speechlessness.
—Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Zack Sharf, Variety, 14 Apr. 2026
Both brothers were intellectually precocious, but Scott could be shy to the point of speechlessness.
—Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speechlessness
silence
Noun
-
And disappearance, in the end, is just another form of silence.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
-
As in Kourliandski’s quartet, specks and splatters of sound are interspersed with silences.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Speechlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speechlessness. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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