Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not expressed or uttered.
  • adjective Linguistics Voiceless.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not spoken; unuttered; not articulated or pronounced.
  • In phonetics, not uttered with voice as distinct from breath; unintonated; surd.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not spoken or expressed.
  • adjective linguistics Spoken without vibration of the vocal chords.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not made explicit
  • adjective produced without vibration of the vocal cords

Etymologies

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Examples

  • In tracing the characteristic phenomenon of life from simple beginnings in that vast region which may be called unvoiced, as exemplified in the world of plants, to its highest expression in the animal kingdom, one is repeatedly struck by the one dominant fact that in order to maintain an organism at the height of its efficiency something more than a mechanical perfection of its structure is necessary.

    Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose His Life and Speeches Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

  • Over at Bell Labs, "shh" is called unvoiced fricatives, or "unvoiced hiss energy," pulmonary turbulence modulated by tongue, teeth and lips.

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • "In tracing the characteristic phenomena of life from simple beginnings in that vast region which may be called unvoiced, as exemplified in the world of plants, to its highest expression in the animal kingdom, one is repeatedly struck by the one dominant fact that in order to maintain an organism at the height of its efficiency something more than a mechanical perfection of its structure is necessary.

    Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose His Life and Speeches Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

  • These "unvoiced" sounds seem less popular with listeners (

    New Scientist - Online News 2010

  • These "unvoiced" sounds seem less popular with listeners (

    ACM TechNews 2010

  • She mouthed, Kill it, and he had to admire her in her extremity, because there was no speech, not even the faintest aspiration, just the drawn-back lips and the grimace of the unvoiced verb.

    The Silence 2010

  • As if in response to his unvoiced thoughts, the lights in the foyer and corridor promptly extinguished, to be replaced seconds later by smaller, dimmer substitute emergency illumination.

    Star Trek: Typhon Pact Paths of Disharmony Dayton Ward 2011

  • She mouthed, Kill it, and he had to admire her in her extremity, because there was no speech, not even the faintest aspiration, just the drawn-back lips and the grimace of the unvoiced verb.

    The Silence 2010

  • "Voiced plosives," we're told, "are like rigid, elastic hits, and unvoiced plosives like nonrigid, inelastic hits."

    A Sound Check For the Ages Daniel J. Levitin 2011

  • Let's ask Mr. Impatient (hehehe) about those unvoiced liasons.

    pressé - French Word-A-Day 2010

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