mumbling
Definition
- Noun:
- Indistinct or low speech: The act of speaking unclearly, quietly, or with the mouth nearly closed, making the words hard to understand.
- Ineffectual chewing: The action of chewing food in a weak, slow, or toothless manner.
Usage and Examples
Noun (Indistinct Speech):
- His constant mumbling made it difficult to follow the lecture.
- Stop mumbling and speak clearly, please.
Noun (Ineffectual Chewing):
- The old dog's mumbling of his food was a sign of his age.
Advanced Usage
- "To be reduced to mumbling": To become so flustered, confused, or emotional that one cannot speak clearly.
- Under the intense questioning, the witness was reduced to incoherent mumbling.
Variants and Related Words
- Mumble (verb): To speak or say something in a low, indistinct way.
- He tends to mumble when he's nervous.
- Mumbler (noun): A person who mumbles.
- Mumbled (adjective): Describes speech that is indistinct.
- We could only hear a mumbled apology.
Synonyms
- Murmuring: Speaking in a low, continuous, and indistinct voice.
- Muttering: Speaking in a low voice, often in a grumbling or complaining tone.
- Inarticulateness: The quality of being unable to speak clearly or effectively.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- Mumbling and fumbling: Acting or speaking in a confused, awkward, or ineffective manner. (Often used together to emphasize clumsiness).
- He spent the presentation mumbling and fumbling with his notes.
Noun
-
ineffectual chewing (as if without teeth)
-
indistinct enunciation
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