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Dumb vs Stupid - What's the difference?

dumb | stupid |

Stupid is a synonym of dumb.



As adjectives the difference between dumb and stupid

is that dumb is unable to speak; lacking power of speech while stupid is lacking in intelligence or exhibiting the quality of having been done by someone lacking in intelligence.

As a verb dumb

is to silence.

As an adverb stupid is

extremely.

As a noun stupid is

a stupid person; a fool.

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

    stupid

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Lacking in intelligence or exhibiting the quality of having been done by someone lacking in intelligence.
    • Because it's a big stupid jellyfish!
  • To the point of stupor.
    • Neurobiology bores me stupid .
  • (archaic) Characterized by or in a state of stupor; paralysed.
  • * 1702 Alexander Pope, Sappho 128:
    • No sigh to rise, no tear had pow'r to flow, Fix'd in a stupid lethargy of woe.
  • (archaic) Lacking sensation; inanimate; destitute of consciousness; insensate.
  • * 1744 George Berkeley, Siris §190:
    • Were it not for [fire], the whole wou'd be one great stupid inanimate mass.
  • (slang) Amazing.
    • That dunk was stupid! His head was above the rim!
  • (slang) damn, annoying, darn
    • I fell over the stupid wire.

    Synonyms

    * dense, dumb, retarded, unintelligent * (especially in the Caribbean) stupidy * See also

    Derived terms

    * stupe * stupefy * stupid-ass * stupidity * stupidly * stupidness

    Related terms

    * stupor * stupendous

    References

    *

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (slang, dated) Extremely.
    • My gear is stupid fly.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A stupid person; a fool.
  • * 1910 , , ‘The Strategist’, Reginald in Russia :
    • ‘You stupid !’ screamed the girls, ‘we've got to guess the word.’
  • * 1922 , Elizabeth G. Young, Homestead ranch
    • "What a stupid I am!" Harry exclaimed, as she watched the man ride away in the distance.
  • * 1996 , Anita Rau Badamim, Tamarind Mem
    • At least those stupids got their money's worth out of this country before they burnt their lungs out.
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