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Dumb vs Style - What's the difference?

dumb | style |

As verbs the difference between dumb and style

is that dumb is to silence while style is to create or give a style, fashion or image.

As an adjective dumb

is unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

As a noun style is

a manner of doing or presenting things, especially a fashionable one.

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

    style

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A manner of doing or presenting things, especially a fashionable one.
  • * Chesterfield
    • Style is the dress of thoughts.
  • * C. Middleton
    • the usual style of dedications
  • * I. Disraeli
    • It is style alone by which posterity will judge of a great work.
  • * Sir J. Reynolds
    • The ornamental style also possesses its own peculiar merit.
  • flair; grace; fashionable skill
    • As a dancer, he has a lot of style .
  • (botany) The stalk that connects the stigma(s) to the ovary in a pistil of a flower.
  • A traditional or legal term preceding a reference to a person who holds a title or post.
  • A traditional or legal term used to address a person who holds a title or post.
    • the style of Majesty
  • * Burke
    • one style to a gracious benefactor, another to a proud, insulting foe
  • (nonstandard) A stylus.
  • (obsolete) A pen; an author's pen.
    • (Dryden)
  • A sharp-pointed tool used in engraving; a graver.
  • A kind of blunt-pointed surgical instrument.
  • A long, slender, bristle-like process.
    • the anal styles of insects
  • The pin, or gnomon, of a sundial, the shadow of which indicates the hour.
  • (computing) A visual or other modification to text or other elements of a document, such as bold or italic.
    • applying styles to text in a wordprocessor
    Cascading Style Sheets

    Derived terms

    * stylish * stylist * hairstyle * style guide * style manual

    See also

    * substance

    Verb

    (styl)
  • To create or give a style, fashion or image.
  • To call or give a name or title.
  • * 1811 , Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility , chapter 10
    • Marianne’s preserver, as Margaret, with more elegance than precision, stiled (SIC) Willoughby, called at the cottage early the next morning to make his personal inquiries.

    Anagrams

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