Word.ws English Dictionary

silent as the grave

silent as the grave adjective: of a person, saying absolutely nothing (especially about a particular subject).

Adjective

silent as the grave (not comparable)

  1. (idiomatic, simile) Of a person, saying absolutely nothing (especially about a particular subject).
    • The investigation is ongoing, but all the suspects have been silent as the grave so far.
    • “Livesey,” returned the squire, “you are always in the right of it. I’ll be as silent as the grave.”1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC
  2. (idiomatic, simile) Of a place, deathly still and silent.
    • The abandoned village is silent as the grave.

silent as the grave meaning in Vietnamese

silent as the grave in Vietnamese

to say absolutely nothing
im như thóc, câm như hến

Synonyms of silent as the grave

Origin of silent as the grave

Perhaps connected to the idea of taking a secret to the grave, or the idea that dead men tell no tales.

Questions about silent as the grave

What does silent as the grave mean?
Silent as the grave means of a person, saying absolutely nothing (especially about a particular subject).
What is silent as the grave in Vietnamese?
Silent as the grave in Vietnamese is im như thóc, câm như hến. See Silent as the grave meaning in Vietnamese.
What part of speech is silent as the grave?
Silent as the grave is an adjective.

Words near silent as the grave in the dictionary

  1. silent agitator
  2. silent agitators
  3. silent alarm
  4. silent alarms
  5. silent as a grave
  6. silent as the grave
  7. silent as the tomb
  8. silent auction
  9. silent auctions
  10. silent barter
  11. Silent Bob

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: silent as the grave (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-silent as the grave.ogg.

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