Dumb vs. Thick

Dumb vs. Thick — Is There a Difference?
ADVERTISEMENT

Difference Between Dumb and Thick

Dumbadjective

(dated) Unable to speak; lacking power of speech (kept in "deaf, dumb, and blind").

His younger brother was born dumb, and communicated with sign language.

Thickadjective

Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension.

Dumbadjective

(dated) Silent; unaccompanied by words.

dumb show

Thickadjective

Measuring a certain number of units in this dimension.

I want some planks that are two inches thick.

Dumbadjective

extremely stupid.

You are so dumb! You don't even know how to make toast!

Thickadjective

Heavy in build; thickset.

He had such a thick neck that he had to turn his body to look to the side.
ADVERTISEMENT

Dumbadjective

(figuratively) Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.

This is dumb! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.

Thickadjective

Densely crowded or packed.

We walked through thick undergrowth.

Dumbadjective

Lacking brightness or clearness, as a colour.

Thickadjective

Having a viscous consistency.

My mum’s gravy was thick but at least it moved about.

Dumbverb

To silence.

Thickadjective

Abounding in number.

The room was thick with reporters.
ADVERTISEMENT

Dumbverb

(transitive) To make stupid.

Thickadjective

Impenetrable to sight.

We drove through thick fog.

Dumbverb

(transitive) To represent as stupid.

Thickadjective

Difficult to understand, or poorly articulated.

We had difficulty understanding him with his thick accent.

Dumbverb

(transitive) To reduce the intellectual demands of.

Thickadjective

(informal) Stupid.

He was as thick as two short planks.

Dumbadjective

slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity;

so dense he never understands anything I say to himnever met anyone quite so dimalthough dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quickdumb officials make some really dumb decisionshe was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuseworked with the slow students

Thickadjective

(informal) Friendly or intimate.

They were as thick as thieves.

Dumbadjective

unable to speak temporarily;

struck dumbspeechless with shock

Thickadjective

Deep, intense, or profound.

Thick darkness.

Dumbadjective

lacking the power of human speech;

dumb animals

Thickadjective

troublesome; unreasonable

Dumbadjective

unable to speak because of hereditary deafness

Thickadjective

Curvy and voluptuous, and especially having large hips.

Thickadverb

In a thick manner.

Snow lay thick on the ground.

Thickadverb

Thickly.

Bread should be sliced thick to make toast.

Thickadverb

Frequently; in great numbers.

The arrows flew thick and fast around us.

Thicknoun

The thickest, or most active or intense, part of something.

It was mayhem in the thick of battle.

Thicknoun

A thicket.

Thicknoun

(slang) A stupid person; a fool.

Thickverb

To thicken.

Thicknoun

the location of something surrounded by other things;

in the midst of the crowd

Thickadjective

not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions;

an inch thicka thick boarda thick sandwichspread a thick layer of butterthick coating of dustthick warm blankets

Thickadjective

closely crowded together;

a compact shopping centera dense populationthick crowds

Thickadjective

relatively dense in consistency;

thick creamthick soupthick smokethick fog

Thickadjective

spoken as if with a thick tongue;

the thick speech of a drunkardhis words were slurred

Thickadjective

wide from side to side;

a heavy black mark

Thickadjective

hard to pass through because of dense growth;

dense vegetationthick woods

Thickadjective

(of darkness) very intense;

thick nightthick darknessa face in deep shadowdeep night

Thickadjective

abundant;

a thick head of hair

Thickadjective

heavy and compact in form or stature;

a wrestler of compact buildhe was tall and heavysetstocky legsa thick middle-aged mana thickset young man

Thickadjective

(used informally) associated on close terms;

a close friendthe bartender was chummy with the regular customersthe two were thick as thieves for months

Thickadjective

used informally

Thickadjective

abundantly covered or filled;

the top was thick with dust

Thickadverb

with a thick consistency;

the blood was flowing thick

Thickadverb

in quick succession;

misfortunes come fast and thick