dumb

/dʌm/

//dʌm// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"dumb" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dumb” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,788. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,788
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dumb · dumb · English

dumb · rank #2,788 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,788
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH driven

Nearest frequency peer: driven (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “dumb”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “dumb” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

dumb vs duo
50% similar
dumb vs dun
50% similar
dumb vs dup
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for dumb
PropertyValue
Headworddumb
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/dʌm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,788
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dumb” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).dumblands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “driven” (#2,787), “empire” (#2,789), “doors” (#2,786). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around dumb (IPA /dʌm/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #2,788 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for dumb, with forms such as "ddumb", "dmub", and "dubm". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "duo", "dun", "dup", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, ineffectual”), from Old English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, unable to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *dumb, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz (“dull, dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk… The correct English form is dumb, spelled D-U-M-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
  2. 2
    Not talkative; taciturn or unwilling to speak.
  3. 3
    Having no input or voice in running things.
  4. 4
    Unaccompanied by words or speech, silent, wordless.
  5. 5
    Not producing any sound, silent.
  6. 6
    Stupid.
  7. 7
    Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
  8. 8
    Lacking some functionality or property ordinarily characteristic of its kind.
  9. 9
    Not equipped with intelligent behavior or processing capabilities of its own.
  10. 10
    Lacking brightness or clearness as a colour; dim, dull.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how dumb appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. deaf, dumb, and blind
  2. His younger brother was born dumb, and communicated with sign language.

Etymology

From Middle English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, ineffectual”), from Old English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, unable to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *dumb, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz (“dull, dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). The senses of stupid, unintellectual, and pointless, which are found regularly since the 19th century only, probably developed under the influence of German dumm and Dutch dom. Just like the English word, these originally meant "lacking the power of speech", but they developed the mentioned senses early on. Cognates Cognate with Scots dumb (“dumb, silent”), North Frisian dom, domme (“dumb, stupid”), West Frisian dom (“dumb, stupid”), Dutch dom (“dumb, stupid”), German dumm (“dumb, stupid”), Danish dum (“stupid”), Swedish dum (“stupid”), Icelandic dumbur (“dumb, mute”). See also deaf.

This word in other languages

estúpido(Español)stupide(Français)dumm(Deutsch)burro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddumb
  • dmub
  • dubm
  • dumbb
  • dummb
  • udmb

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dumb - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ddumb1dmub2dubm2dumbb1dummb1udmb2
Edit distance from "dumb"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dumb"?
"dumb" is spelled D-U-M-B. The IPA pronunciation is /dʌm/.
What does "dumb" mean?
As an adjective, "dumb" means: Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
What words are commonly confused with "dumb"?
"dumb" is commonly confused with "duo", "dun", "dup". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dumb"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dumb" is /dʌm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "dumb"?
From Middle English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, ineffectual”), from Old English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, unable to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *dumb, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz (“dull, dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dumb", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hide#2,794calm#2,777quit#2,805sing#2,810

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

doors6 variantsbroad6 variantsburn6 variantsplate6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "dumb". Here's where to go from here.

  • "dumb" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "duo". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #2,788 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list