How to say “dumb” in 30 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.
It is commonest in Croatian, where nema is the 77th most used word.
- Armenian համր dumb, speechless, mute #629
- Basque mutu #1,484
- Bengali বেকুব fool; dumb; idiot; dunce #1,089
- Bosnian nema mute, dumb #79
- Bulgarian тъп stupid, dumb #1,895
- Croatian nema mute, dumb #77
- Czech něm mute, dumb #541
- Danish dum stupid, dense, dumb, thick, dim #632
- Dutch dom dumb, brainless #912
- Estonian loll stupid, dumb, foolish #639
- Finnish tyhmä stupid, dumb, dull #1,046
- French débile dumb, stupid, retarded #2,400
- German dumm dumb, stupid #933
- Hebrew מטומטם dumb, stupid, foolish, idiotic #1,159
- Hindi मूर्ख stupid, dumb, foolish, idiotic #465
- Icelandic heimskur stupid, foolish, dumb #973
- Latvian stulbi stupid, dumb, stupidly, dumbly; adverbial… #1,400
- Malay bisu mute; speechless; dumb; unable to speak #2,334
- Norwegian tåpelig dumb, foolish, idiotic, stupid #2,320
- Persian ابله dumb, stupid, feeble-minded #2,408
- Polish głupi stupid, dumb; silly #896
- Serbian nema mute, dumb #81
- Slovak nemá dumb, mute #238
- Spanish imbécil dumb, having the properties of an imbecile #1,323
- Swedish dum stupid, dumb #703
- Tagalog engot stupid person; dumb person; moron #1,759
- Tamil ஊமை mute, dumb #861
- Telugu మూగ #648
- Turkish aptal #318
- Vietnamese lơ to play dumb; to feign ignorance; to ignore #2,132
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.