as in mute
unable to speak because you are nervous or shy
She became tongue-tied whenever he was around. He gets tongue-tied in front of crowds.
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Recent Examples of tongue-tied
But on April 24, Stanford got tongue-tied when asked to explain her position on abolishing ICE.
—
David Weigel, semafor.com, 18 May 2026
At times, Raman was tongue-tied trying to answer simple questions.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
David Weigel, semafor.com, 18 May 2026
At times, Raman was tongue-tied trying to answer simple questions.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongue-tied
Adjective
-
Kimiko uttered one word during the season five finale, which signified a return to form for her character, who was mute throughout the first four installments of the series.—
McKinley Franklin,
HollywoodReporter,
23 May 2026
-
In Indian Princesses, Rodriguez and her director, Miranda Cornell, score silences and moments of mute, physicalized frustration with just as much precision and pathos as the play’s speech, often with more.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
His friends, from brother Luigi (Charlie Day) to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) veer in a similar direction, somehow coming across less fully formed and three-dimensional than their nearly speechless inspirations from Nintendo‘s flagship franchise.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
31 Mar. 2026
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In helicopter video taken by Air Maui Helicopter Tours in Lahaina and posted online the people aboard are largely speechless.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC News,
10 Aug. 2023
Adjective
-
Europeans, Bennett notes, find this genuinely incomprehensible.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
11 May 2026
-
Ashly's death is an incomprehensible tragedy.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
6 May 2026
Adjective
-
Simpson, butched up and closed off and vibrating with inarticulate pain, is superb in the part, and Jimenez’s rigid shoulders and frozen face are wrenching.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
20 May 2026
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Yet masculinism also functions as a perpetual-motion machine of grievance, an inarticulate howl of anguish at the status quo—whatever that currently is.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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The Academy knew retroactively grading the crew of a 90-year-old movie would be incoherent.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
17 May 2026
-
In 12 pages of meandering, often incoherent letters addressed to a judge, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh broods over her life in jail and describes desperation.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
How, of all institutions, does a Holocaust Museum stay silent?—
Samuel S. Flax,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 May 2026
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But at the time of each service honoring a fallen veteran, the volunteers fell silent and performed the honors in sync.—
Addison Wright,
Chicago Tribune,
24 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tongue-tied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongue-tied. Accessed 29 May. 2026.
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