noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A psychological disorder in which the sufferer cannot speak in certain situations. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

aphasiadumbnessdysphasiamuteness

Etymology

From French mutisme, from Latin mutus (“mute”), equivalent to mute + -ism.

Related phrases

elective mutismselective mutism

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.