voiceless

English

Etymology

From voice +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɔɪsləs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: voice‧less

Adjective

voiceless (not comparable)

1. Lacking a voice, without vocal sound.

   Synonyms: inaudible, silent, unvoiced

   Antonyms: audible, vocal, voiced

   • 1890, Albert Kimsey Owen, Integral Co-operation at Work ... - Page 105:

     How people, with any pretence to decency or cleanliness, can, for a day, sit voiceless and patient and see these brutes destroy and befilth everything, public and private, is difficult to believe.

   • 1994, Loreena McKennitt, The Mystic's Dream:

     A voiceless song in an ageless light / Sings at the coming dawn / Birds in flight are calling there / Where the heart moves the stones / It's there that my heart is calling / All for the love of you.

2. (figurative) Without a vote; having no input into a decision.
   • 2011, Jan Johnson, Living a Purpose-Full Life:

     I've come to see she is a voiceless person in her world, and so I try to remember to stop and give her my full-faced attention when I see her.

3. (phonetics, of a consonant or vowel) Spoken without vibration of the vocal cords; unvoiced, surd, breathed. Examples: [t], [s], [f], [m̥], [u̥].

   Synonym: unvoiced

   Antonym: voiced

Translations

lacking a voice, without vocal sound

• Azerbaijani: kar (az)
• Belarusian: бязгу́чны (be) (bjazhúčny), безгало́сы (bjezhalósy)
• Bulgarian: беззву́чен (bg) (bezzvúčen), безгла́сен (bg) (bezglásen)
• Esperanto: senvoĉa
• Finnish: mykkä (fi), äänetön (fi)
• French: aphone (fr)
• Georgian: უხმო (uxmo), მუნჯი (munǯi)
• German: tonlos
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἄφωνος (áphōnos)

• Hungarian: hangtalan (hu), néma (hu)
• Icelandic: raddlaus
• Japanese: 無言の (ja) (mugon no), 暗黙の (ja) (anmoku no)
• Kalmyk: дун уга (dun uga)
• Lithuanian: bebalsis
• Manx: balloo, gyn coraa
• Polish: niemy (pl), bezgłośny (pl), bezdźwięczny (pl)
• Portuguese: mudo (pt)
• Romanian: mut (ro), fără voce
• Russian: безголо́сый (ru) (bezgolósyj), безгла́сный (ru) (bezglásnyj), немо́й (ru) (nemój), беззву́чный (ru) (bezzvúčnyj)
• Scots: voiceless
• Spanish: mudo (es)
• Swedish: tonlös (sv)
• Ukrainian: безголо́сний (uk) (bezholósnyj), беззву́чний (uk) (bezzvúčnyj), безголо́сий (uk) (bezholósyj)

phonetics, of a consonant: spoken without vibration of the vocal cords

• Arabic: مَهْمُوس (mahmūs)
• Armenian: խուլ (hy) (xul), պարզ խուլ (parz xul) (unaspirated), շնչեղ խուլ (šnčʻeġ xul) (aspirated)
• Azerbaijani: kar (az)
• Belarusian: глухі́ (be) (hluxí), бязгу́чны (be) (bjazhúčny)
• Bengali: অঘোষ (bn) (oghōś)
• Bulgarian: беззву́чен (bg) (bezzvúčen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無聲 / 无声 (zh) (wúshēng), 清 (zh) (qīng) (traditional, aspirated voiceless sounds)

• Czech: neznělý
• Danish: ustemt
• Dutch: stemloos (nl)
• Finnish: soinniton (fi)
• French: sourd (fr)
• Galician: xordo (gl)
• Georgian: ყრუ (ka) (q̇ru)
• German: stimmlos (de)
• Greek: άηχος (el) (áichos)
• Hindi: अघोष (hi) (aghoṣ)
• Hungarian: zöngétlen (hu)
• Icelandic: óraddaður
• Irish: neamhghlórach
• Italian: sordo (it)
• Japanese: 無声 (ja) (musei), 清 (ja) (sei) (traditional)
• Kalmyk: дүлә (dülä)
• Korean: 무성 (ko) (museong)
• Macedonian: безгласен (bezglasen)
• Manx: neughooagh, neughlaragh, neuchoraait
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: дуугүй (duugüj)

  Mongolian: ᠳᠠᠭᠤ
  ᠦᢉᠡᠢ

• Navajo: doo yolzóoz da
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ustemt

  Nynorsk: ustemd

• Polish: bezdźwięczny (pl) m
• Portuguese: surdo (pt) m
• Romanian: surd (ro)
• Russian: глухо́й (ru) (gluxój)
• Scots: voiceless
• Scottish Gaelic: neo-ghuthach
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: njespiwny

• Spanish: sordo (es)
• Swedish: tonlös (sv)
• Turkish: sessiz (tr)
• Ukrainian: глухи́й (hluxýj), безголо́сний (uk) (bezholósnyj)
• Vietnamese: vô thanh
• Welsh: di-lais

See also

• speechless