speechless
/ˈspiːt͡ʃ.lɪs/ adjective
- adjective Not speaking; not knowing what to say; silent, especially due to surprise, amazement, etc.; wordless. “When he walked into his surprise birthday party, he was completely speechless.”
- adjective (archaic) Synonym of unspeakable.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English specheles, from Old English sprǣċlēas (“speechless; without the power of speak”), from Proto-Germanic *sprēkalausaz, equivalent to speech + -less. Cognate with West Frisian sprakeleas (“speechless”), Dutch sprakeloos (“speechless”), German Low German spraaklos (“speechless”), German sprachlos (“speechless”).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “speechless”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details