Mumchance
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An old game of chance played with cards in silence. countable, uncountable
"The Taker oꝛ the Verſer is the man muſt play with him, the Cardes are fetch, Mumchance oꝛ Decoy is the game: the firſt wager is Wine, the ſecond two pence in money, from two pence they riſe to a ſhilling, from that to a pound, […]"
- 2 A silent, stupid person. countable, uncountable
"I'm not such a mumchance, to be sure, but I've as good a fortune"
- 1 Mute, or not speaking; silent.
"There is something exceedingly unpleasant in being obliged to answer "No," to a traveller's "Pray, Sir, were you ever abroad?" and to sit mum-chance all the time that he is running over the "grimoire" of outlandish technicalities. For my own part, I am convinced that man is, par excellence, a travelling animal; [...]"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"There is something exceedingly unpleasant in being obliged to answer "No," to a traveller's "Pray, Sir, were you ever abroad?" and to sit mum-chance all the time that he is running over the "grimoire" of outlandish technicalities. For my own part, I am convinced that man is, par excellence, a travelling animal; [...]"
Etymology
From Middle English mommen (“mutter, be silent”) and Middle High German mummenschantze (“game of chance as part of a masquerade, mime performance, revel”), from Old French momen (“mask”) and chance (“game of chance”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.