What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Dumb vs Trump - What's the difference?

dumb | trump |

As an adjective dumb

is (label) unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

As a verb dumb

is to silence.

As a proper noun trump is

a metonymic occupational name for a trumpeter.

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

    trump

    English

    Etymology 1

    Possibly from Italian trionfi (triumph(s) ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (US, in the singular, cards) The suit, in a game of cards, that outranks all others.
  • (British, in the plural, cards) The suit, in a game of cards, that outranks all others.
    • Diamonds were declared trumps .
  • (cards) A playing card of that suit.
    • He played an even higher trump .
  • (figuratively) Something that gives one an advantage, especially one held in reserve.
  • An excellent person; a fine fellow, a good egg.
  • * 1851 ,
    • All hands voted Queequeg a noble trump ; the captain begged his pardon.
  • * Thackeray
    • Alfred is a trump , I think you say.
  • An old card game, almost identical to whist; the game of ruff.
    • (Decker)
  • (in the plural) The major arcana of the tarot
  • A card of the major arcana

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (cards) To play a trump (on a card of another suit).
    • He knew the hand was lost when his ace was trumped .
  • (cards) To play a trump, or to take a trick with a trump
  • To get the better of, or finesse, a competitor.
  • * Ben Jonson
    • to trick or trump mankind
  • (dated) To impose unfairly; to palm off.
  • * C. Leslie
    • Authors have been trumped upon us.
  • To supersede.
    • In this election, it would seem issues of national security trumped economic issues.
    Synonyms
    * (To play a trump card on another suit) ruff * (To get the better of a competitor) outsmart
    Coordinate terms
    * (To play a trump card on another suit) underruff, overruff
    Derived terms
    * the last trump * no trump * overtrump * trump card * trump out * trump up * under trump

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) trompe "trumpet" from (etyl) trompe "horn, trump, trumpet", from (etyl) * "trumpet". Akin to (etyl) trumpa, trumba "horn, trumpet", (etyl) tromme "drum", (etyl) trumme "drum". More at (l), (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A trumpet.
  • * Bible, 1 Corinthians 15:52
    • In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To blow a trumpet.
  • (intransitive, slang, UK) To flatulate.
    • And without warning me, as he lay there, he suddenly trumped next to me in bed.

    External links

    *