Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use silent in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Silent means free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet. Example: “The e is silent in fable.”

Examples of silent by meaning

adjectiveNot speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.

  • Tothero is silent before replying.1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 38

adjectiveNot pronounced; having no sound; quiescent.

  • The e is silent in fable.
  • Silent letters can make some words difficult to spell.
  • The l in the English word salmon is silent.

adjectiveWith the sound turned off; usually on silent or in silent mode.

  • My phone was on silent.

adjectiveWithout audio capability.

  • The Magnavox Odyssey was a silent console.

adjectiveHidden, unseen.

  • a silent voter; a silent partner

adjectiveOf an edit or change to a text, not explicitly acknowledged.

  • silent revisions; a silent emendation

nounA silent movie.

  • More than 40 films will be shown spanning the past seventy-five years, including early silents and talkies, contemporary productions, foreign and American films, documentaries, underground works and television shows.1978 April 22, “The Celluloid Closet”, in Gay Community News, page 2

More sentences with silent

  • As I tiptoed past the sleeping dog, my heart was pounding but I remained silent.From the entry pound
  • Well, well, well, it seems the silent one does have a voice, after all.From the entry one
  • The students fell momentarily silent while he finished writing on the board. Then, "Ribbit!"From the entry ribbit
  • The highways of the USA are littered with descansos, silent reminders of automobile accidents.From the entry descanso
  • The door opened with a crusty squeak that echoed in the silent room.From the entry crusty
  • Aside from a few stray flutters of laughter, the audience was silent.From the entry flutter
  • The investigation is ongoing, but all the suspects have been silent as the grave so far.From the entry silent as the grave
  • She starred in dozens of silent movies.From the entry star
  • Candidates must remain silent for the entirety of the exam.From the entry candidate
  • The band crescendoed and then suddenly went silent.From the entry crescendo
  • The lawyer counselled his client to remain silent.From the entry counsel
  • The word hour is written with a silent aitch.From the entry aitch
  • If you waive the right to be silent, anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.From the entry waive
  • The conductor raised his baton and the orchestra fell silent.From the entry baton
  • The mourners left the funeral heavy-hearted and silent.From the entry heavy-hearted
  • He asked and asked, but she remained silent and uncommunicative.From the entry uncommunicative
  • The abandoned village is silent as the grave.From the entry silent as the grave
  • For many people, diabetes is a silent killer.From the entry silent killer
  • Silent farts are often the smelliest.From the entry fart
  • Carbon monoxide is a silent killer.From the entry killer
  • One sure sign of indecency is criticizing foreigners constantly, but remaining silent about the problems within your own land, or by your own people, or both.From the entry indecency
  • Unlike traditional terminations, quiet firing (sometimes called “silent firing”) operates under the radar.2025 August 15, Lisa Reyes, Heather Whitney, “Quiet Firing: Signs It's Happening and How To Avoid It”, in PayChex. From the entry quiet firing
  • So sailors used a tried technique to deal with an offender: the silent treatment.2024 March 21, Arthur C. Brooks, “Whatever You Do, Don’t Do the Silent Treatment”, in The Atlantic. From the entry silent treatment
  • We met one woman who had been given the silent treatment by her husband for 40 years.2023 December 12, Anita Chaudhuri, “The silent treatment: ‘One woman was ostracised by her husband for 40 years’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry silent treatment
  • Boomers and Xers were told to stay silent, but millennials and Zers were encouraged to speak up.2022, Mark White, 5-Gen Leadership: Leading 5 Generations in Schools in the 2020s, Corwin Press, SAGE Publishing, →ISBN. From the entry Zer
  • “Is it drugs?” I prompted when he frowned but remained silent.2021, Tracey Drew, Knitted and Knifed: (A Humorous & Heart-warming Cozy Mystery), Icon Publishing Limited, →ISBN, page 38. From the entry knifed
  • She hated that silent appraisal, watching someone compare her to a version that she might have been.2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 47. From the entry appraisal
  • President Trump believes he represents the “silent majority” of the country against a dangerous, radical minority.2020 July 24, Jamelle Bouie, “There Is a ‘Great Silent Majority.’ But It Stands Against Trump.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry silent majority
  • Come a fortnight and the brace of us’ll be wantin’ to be ever silent as the tomb.2019, Robert Eggers, Max Eggers, The Lighthouse (motion picture), spoken by Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe), set in Maine, United States…. From the entry gab
  • It will be concluded that claircognisance is the silent faculty of the psychic mind.2019 April, Antonio Bilardi, Psychic Supremacy. From the entry claircognisance
  • My comm was set on silent mode—nothing in or out except emergency transmissions.2018, Joseph Kainz, Sector 12 and the Art of Burning, page ix. From the entry comm

Meaning of silent

  1. adjective Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
  2. adjective Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.
  3. adjective Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed.

Full definition of silent

Questions about silent in a sentence

How do you use silent in a sentence?
Silent is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “The e is silent in fable.”
What is a short sentence with silent?
“My phone was on silent.”
What does silent mean?
Silent means free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: silent (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use silent in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/silent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.