silence
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The absence of any sound.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
syluhnsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsaɪləns
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The absence of any sound.
“He needed silence in order to sleep.”
The act of refraining from speaking.
Refraining from speaking, for purposes of prayer or meditation; especially, a form of worship practiced by the Society of Friends (Quakers) during meetings.
verb
transitive
To make (someone or something) silent.
transitive
To repress the expression of something.
transitive
To suppress criticism, etc.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The absence of any sound.
Used this way, silence is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He needed silence in order to sleep.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “silence in …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: silence in …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use silence
- “He needed silence in order to sleep.”noun
- “His silence about my contribution was surprising.”noun
- “All dissenters were silenced when the dictator assumed power.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Short tube attached to the muzzle of a gun that deadens the sound of firing.
Reduced to silence.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The secrecy of police officers who lie or look the other way to protect other police officers.
A conspiracy not to talk about some situation or event.
The secrecy of police officers who lie or look the other way to protect other police officers.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: absence of any sound
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.