How to say “dumb” in 30 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- imbécil/imˈbeθil/ Spanish
- מטומטם/metumˈtam/ Hebrew
- համր/ˈhɑməɾ/ Armenian
- మూగ/ˈmuːɡa/ Telugu
- ابله[ʔæb.lǽʱ] Persian
“dumb” in Spanish: imbécil · French: débile · German: dumm · Turkish: aptal
It is commonest in Slovak, where nemá is the 238th most used word.
Dumb in other languages, A to Z
- Armenian համր/ˈhɑməɾ/ dumb, speechless, mute #629
- Basque mutu/ˈmutu/ #1,484
- Bengali বেকুব/bekub/ fool; dumb; idiot; dunce #1,089
- Bosnian nema/ˈnɛmɐ/ mute, dumb #79
- Bulgarian тъп[tɤp] stupid, dumb #1,895
- Croatian nema/ˈnɛmɐ/ mute, dumb #77
- Czech něm[ˈɲɛm] mute, dumb #541
- Danish dum/dom/ stupid, dense, dumb, thick, dim #632
- Dutch dom/dɔm/ dumb, brainless #912
- Estonian loll/ˈlolʲː/ stupid, dumb, foolish #639
- Finnish tyhmä/ˈtyhmæ/ stupid, dumb, dull #1,046
- French débile/de.bil/ dumb, stupid, retarded #2,400
- German dumm/dʊm/ dumb, stupid #933
- Hebrew מטומטם/metumˈtam/ dumb, stupid, foolish, idiotic #1,159
- Hindi मूर्ख/muːɾkʰ/ stupid, dumb, foolish, idiotic #465
- Icelandic heimskur[ˈheimskʏr] stupid, foolish, dumb #973
- Latvian stulbi/ˈstullbi/ stupid, dumb, stupidly, dumbly; adverbial… #1,400
- Malay bisu/ˈbisu/ mute; speechless; dumb; unable to speak #2,334
- Norwegian tåpelig/ˈtoːpəlɪ/ dumb, foolish, idiotic, stupid #2,320
- Persian ابله[ʔæb.lǽʱ] dumb, stupid, feeble-minded #2,408
- Polish głupi/ˈɡwu.pi/ stupid, dumb; silly #896
- Serbian nema/ˈnɛmɐ/ mute, dumb #81
- Slovak nemá/ɲemaː/ dumb, mute #238
- Spanish imbécil/imˈbeθil/ dumb, having the properties of an imbecile #1,323
- Swedish dum/ˈdɵmː/ stupid, dumb #703
- Tagalog engot/ˈʔeŋot/ stupid person; dumb person; moron #1,759
- Tamil ஊமை/uːmɐɪ̯/ mute, dumb #861
- Telugu మూగ/ˈmuːɡa/ #648
- Turkish aptal/apˈtaɫ/ #318
- Vietnamese lơ[ləː˧˧] to play dumb; to feign ignorance; to ignore #2,132
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.