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dumbly

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From dumb +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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dumbly (comparative more dumbly, superlative most dumbly)

  1. In a silent way.
    Synonym: silently
    • 1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 147:
      On the flat behind the mill, dawn-rising Chinamen shogged with nimble bare feet under their yoke-linked watering-cans. These busy brethren, meeting sometimes on the same narrow track, would pause, ant-like, seemingly to dumbly regard one another and their burdens, then, still ant-like, pass silently to their work.
    • 1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 32:
      I handed it dumbly to my friend, who had the grace to giggle.
  2. (derogatory, informal) In an unsmart way.

Translations

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