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Dum vs Dumb - What's the difference?

dum | dumb |

As adjectives the difference between dumb and dum

is that dumb is unable to speak; lacking power of speech while dum is cooked with steam.

As a verb dumb

is to silence.

As an interjection dum is

Syllable used when humming a tune.

dum

English

Adjective

(-)
  • cooked with steam

    • Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • * 2012 , Graeme Burk, Robert Smith, Who is the Doctor
    • I like to hang out with friends and travel the world. But if there's one thing I really love, it's Doctor Who''. ''Dum de dum, dum de dum, dum de dum. Whooo-eee-oooo dum de dum, de dum de dum.
    ----

    dumb

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) dumb, from (etyl) . In ordinary spoken English, a phrase like "He is dumb" is interpreted as "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech". The latter example, however, is the original sense of the word. The senses of stupid'', ''unintellectual'', and ''pointless developed under the influence of the (etyl) word dumm.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (label) Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
  • * Hooker
    • to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures
  • (label) Silent; unaccompanied by words.
    • dumb show
  • * Shakespeare
    • This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
  • *
  • * J. C. Shairp
    • to pierce into the dumb past
  • extremely stupid.
    • You are so dumb ! You don't even know how to make toast!
  • (label) Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
    • This is dumb ! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!
    Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.
  • Lacking brightness or clearness, as a colour.
  • * De Foe
    • Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.
    Synonyms
    * (unable to speak) dumbstruck, mute, speechless, wordless * (stupid) feeble-minded, idiotic, moronic, stupid * banal, brainless, dopey, silly, stupid, ridiculous, vulgar
    Derived terms
    * dumb as a box of rocks * dumben * dumbhood * dummy * dumbness

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) dumbien, from (etyl) dumbian (more commonly in compound .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To silence.
  • * 1911 , Lindsay Swift, William Lloyd Garrison , p. 272,
    • The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.
  • To make stupid.
  • * 2003 , Angela Calabrese Barton, Teaching Science for Social Justice , p. 124,
    • I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.
  • To represent as stupid.
  • * 2004 , Stephen Oppenheimer, The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa , p. 107,
    • Bad-mouthing Neanderthals . . . is symptomatic of a need to exclude and even demonize. . . . I suggest that the unproven dumbing of the Neanderthals is an example of the same cultural preconception.
  • To reduce the intellectual demands of.
  • * 2002 , Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing , p. 126,
    • The ensuing storm caused the department to lower the bar—amid protests that this was dumbing the test down—so that only 80 percent of urban kids would fail.
    Derived terms
    * dumbness * dumb blonde * dumb down * dumbocracy * dumb-show * dumb terminal * dummy * play dumb