dumb

[duhm] /dʌm/

adjective, dumber, dumbest.

lacking intelligence or good judgment; stupid; dull-witted.

lacking the power of speech (offensive when applied to humans):

a dumb animal.

temporarily unable to speak:

dumb with astonishment.

refraining from any or much speech; silent.

made, done, etc., without speech.

lacking some usual property, characteristic, etc.

performed in pantomime; mimed.

Computers. pertaining to the inability to do processing locally:

A dumb terminal can input, output, and display data, but cannot process it.

Compare intelligent (def 4).

Nautical.

(of a barge) without means of propulsion.
(of any craft) without means of propulsion, steering, or signaling.

Verb phrases

10.

dumb down, Informal. to make or become less intellectual, simpler, or less sophisticated:

to dumb down a textbook; American movies have dumbed down.

Origin

before 1000; Old English; cognate with Old Norse dumbr, Gothic dumbs, Old Saxon dumb, Old High German tump, German dumm

Related forms

dumbly, adverb

dumbness, noun

quasi-dumb, adjective

quasi-dumbly, adverb

Usage note

Dumb in the sense “lacking the power of speech” is perceived as insulting when describing humans (but not animals), probably because dumb also means “stupid; dull-witted.” The noun dummy in the sense “person who lacks the power of speech” is also perceived as insulting, as are the terms deaf-and-dumb, deaf-mute, and mute. The adjective hearing-impaired is acceptable though not the term of choice, partly because it lacks directness. The preferred term is deaf, which makes no reference to an inability to speak or communicate; the capitalized Deaf signals membership in this community.

British Dictionary definitions for dumbed down

dumb

/dʌm/

adjective

lacking the power to speak, either because of defects in the vocal organs or because of hereditary deafness

lacking the power of human speech: dumb animals

temporarily lacking or bereft of the power to speak: struck dumb

refraining from speech; uncommunicative

producing no sound; silent: a dumb piano

made, done, or performed without speech

(informal)

slow to understand; dim-witted
foolish; stupid See also dumb down

(of a projectile or bomb) not guided to its target

Derived Forms

dumbly, adverb
dumbness, noun

Word Origin

Old English; related to Old Norse dumbr, Gothic dumbs, Old High German tump

Word Origin and History for dumbed down

dumb

adj.

Old English dumb "silent, unable to speak," from PIE *dheubh- "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness," from root *dheu- (1) "dust, mist, vapor, smoke," and related notions of "defective perception or wits."

The Old English, Old Saxon (dumb), Gothic (dumbs), and Old Norse (dumbr) forms of the word meant only "mute, speechless;" in Old High German (thumb) it meant both this and "stupid," and in Modern German this latter became the only sense. Meaning "foolish, ignorant" was occasionally in Middle English, but modern use (1823) comes from influence of German dumm. Related: dumber; dumbest.

Applied to silent contrivances, hence dumbwaiter. As a verb, in late Old English, "to become mute;" c.1600, "to make mute." To dumb (something) down is from 1933.

Slang definitions & phrases for dumbed down

dumb

adjective

Stupid; mentally sluggish; dim: You think I'm pretty dumb, don't you? (1823+)

adj,adv

damn, darn (1787+)

[fr Pennsylvania German dumm]

dumbed down in Technology

jargon
Simplified, with a strong connotation of *over*simplified. Often, a marketroid will insist that the interfaces and documentation of software be dumbed down after the designer has burned untold gallons of midnight oil making it smart. This creates friction.
See user-friendly.
(1995-04-14)

dumbed down in the Bible

from natural infirmity (Ex. 4:11); not knowing what to say (Prov. 31:8); unwillingness to speak (Ps. 39:9; Lev. 10:3). Christ repeatedly restored the dumb (Matt. 9:32, 33; Luke 11:14; Matt. 12:22) to the use of speech.