si‧lent W3 / saɪlənt / 形容词

1 not speaking

a) not saying anything :

Alan was silent.

remain/stay/keep silent

She kept silent, forcing Buchanan to continue.

The crowd fell silent (= became silent ) when the President appeared.

b) [仅用于名词前] not talking much to other people

the strong silent type (= a man who looks strong and does not talk very much )

Register

Silent is used mainly in writing. In everyday English, people usually use not say anything rather than be silent :

She didn’t say anything , so I carried on.

The article doesn’t say anything about religion.

2 not communicating failing or refusing to talk about something or express an opinion

silent on/about

The report was silent on the subject.

3 quiet without any sound, or not making any sound :

The large house was silent and lonely.

At last the guns fell silent.

Julie offered up a silent prayer that she would pass her exam.

as silent as the grave (= completely silent in a mysterious or uncomfortable way )

4 films [仅用于名词前] a silent film has pictures but no sound

5 letter a silent letter in a word is not 代词 ced :

The ‘w’ in ‘wreck’ is silent.

— silently 副词 :

He sat silently by the bed.