voiceless
/'vɔislis/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Lacking the ability to produce speech sounds: Describes a person or creature that cannot speak, often due to injury, illness, or a natural condition.
- Spoken without vocal cord vibration: In phonetics, describes speech sounds produced without the vocal cords vibrating, such as certain consonants.
- Having no voice or say; powerless: Describes a person, group, or entity that is deprived of the power to express opinions or influence decisions, often in a social or political context.
Usage and Examples
Adjective (Incapable of speech):
- The injury left him voiceless for several weeks.
- Many animals are voiceless in the human political arena.
Adjective (Phonetics):
- The sounds /p/, /t/, and /k/ are voiceless consonants.
- Compare the voiceless 'f' with the voiced 'v'.
Adjective (Powerless or without representation):
- The new policy ignored the voiceless minority.
- She advocates for the voiceless victims of the system.
Advanced Usage
"To render someone voiceless": To take away someone's power or ability to speak or be heard.
- The oppressive regime sought to render its critics voiceless.
"A voiceless plea": A desperate request or appeal made silently or with great difficulty in speaking.
- Her eyes held a voiceless plea for help.
Variants and Related Words
- Voicelessly (adverb): In a manner without voice or sound.
- He protested voicelessly with a sign.
- Voicelessness (noun): The state or condition of being voiceless.
- The voicelessness of the community was a major social issue.
Synonyms
- Mute: Unable to speak.
- Unvoiced: Not expressed in words; also a phonetic term for voiceless sounds.
- Disenfranchised: Deprived of power or rights.
- Powerless: Lacking authority or influence.
Antonyms
- Vocal: Expressing opinions freely; relating to the voice.
- Voiced: In phonetics, produced with vocal cord vibration; having a voice.
- Empowered: Having the authority or power to do something.
Related Phrases and Concepts
- Give voice to the voiceless: An idiom meaning to represent or speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
- The journalist aimed to give voice to the voiceless.
- Voiceless consonant/fricative/stop: Specific phonetic terms for types of sounds produced without vocal fold vibration.
Adjective
- being without sound through injury or illness and thus incapable of all but whispered speech
- uttered without voice
- could hardly hear her breathed plea, `Help me'
- voiceless whispers
- deprived of the rights of citizenship especially the right to vote
- labor was voiceless
- disenfrenchised masses took to the streets
- produced without vibration of the vocal cords
- unvoiced consonants such as `p' and `k' and `s'