speechless
/ˈspiːt͡ʃ.lɪs/
speechless adjective: not speaking; not knowing what to say; silent, especially due to surprise, amazement, etc.; wordless.
Adjective
speechless (not comparable)
- Not speaking; not knowing what to say; silent, especially due to surprise, amazement, etc.; wordless.
- When he walked into his surprise birthday party, he was completely speechless.
- The attack was so unwarranted and delivered with such venom that his unpreparedness for it left him speechless.1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 62
- Synonym of unspeakable.
- Immortal Pleaſures round my ſwimming Eyes did dance,
And ſpeechleſs Joys, in whoſe ſweet Tumult toſt,
I thought my Breath, and my new Being loſt.1690, John Dryden, The State of Innocence, and Fall of Man, J.M., page 14 - O Mother Earth, O Sun that makest clean,
What poison have I heard, what speechless sin !1902, Gilbert Murray, Euripides, Longmans, Green, and co., page 32
- Synonyms:
- unspeakable
- Immortal Pleaſures round my ſwimming Eyes did dance,
speechless meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
speechless in Hindi
- not speaking; not knowing what to say
- निःशब्द niḥśabd
speechless in Tamil
- பேச இயலாத, பேசாமல், சொல்லில் தெரிவிக்க முடியாத, பேச்சு இல்லாத
speechless in Urdu
- speechless
- بے زبان bezabān
speechless in Bengali
- বাকহীন, নির্বাক
More languagesFewer languages
- speechless in Telugu
- నోరులేని nōrulēni
- speechless in Malayalam
- മൂകനായ, ഊമയായ, മിണ്ടാട്ടമില്ലാത്ത
- speechless in Kannada
- ಮೂಕ, ಮಾತಿಲ್ಲದ, ಮಾತನಾಡಲಾಗದ, ಮೌನವಾಗಿರುವ
- speechless in Sanskrit
- मूक mūka
- speechless in Indonesian
- kelu, kaku lidah
- speechless in Thai
- หมดคำพูด mòt-kam-pûut, พูดไม่ออก pûut-mâi-ɔ̀ɔk
- speechless in Vietnamese
- không biết nói gì
Examples of speechless in a sentence
- That new episode for Gushing Over Magical Girls left me speechless.
- Then there was Betty who was constantly in a fit when she invariably became speechless.
- On his release he rendered speechless those who witnessed the superior cuemanship the tip afforded him.
Synonyms of speechless
Origin of speechless
From Middle English specheles, from Old English sprǣċlēas (“speechless; without the power of speak”), from Proto-Germanic *sprēkalausaz, equivalent to speech + -less. Cognate with West Frisian sprakeleas (“speechless”), Dutch sprakeloos (“speechless”), German Low German spraaklos (“speechless”), German sprachlos (“speechless”).
Words formed from speechless
Questions about speechless
- What does speechless mean?
- Speechless means not speaking; not knowing what to say; silent, especially due to surprise, amazement, etc.; wordless.
- What is speechless in Hindi?
- Speechless in Hindi is निःशब्द (niḥśabd). See Speechless meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is speechless?
- Speechless is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce speechless?
- Speechless is pronounced /ˈspiːt͡ʃ.lɪs/ (US).
Words near speechless in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: speechless (page history and authors); speechless (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); بے زبان (Urdu) (page history and authors); speechless (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); speechless (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); speechless (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-speechless.ogg.
Cite this entry: “speechless.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/speechless. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.