Library / English Dictionary

MUTTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone

Synonyms:

grumble; grumbling; murmur; murmuring; mutter; muttering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("mutter" is a kind of...):

complaint (an expression of grievance or resentment)

Derivation:

mutter (make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech

Synonyms:

murmur; murmuration; murmuring; mussitation; mutter; muttering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("mutter" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Derivation:

mutter (talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice)

mutterer (a person who speaks softly and indistinctly)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath

Example:

she grumbles when she feels overworked

Synonyms:

croak; gnarl; grumble; murmur; mutter

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "mutter" is one way to...):

complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off (express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

mutter; muttering (a complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice

Synonyms:

maunder; mumble; mussitate; mutter

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "mutter" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue mutter

They mutter that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

mutter (a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech)

mutterer (a person who speaks softly and indistinctly)

muttering (a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“Next best thing to tell the truth,” muttered Captain Smollett.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"I'm glad of it!" muttered Jo, tying on her hat with a jerk.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I should have thought no more of Lord John's remark were it not that once again that night I heard him mutter to himself: "Blue clay—clay in a volcanic tube!"

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In two minutes, however, he relented in his own favour; and muttering something about spruce-beer, walked off.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

"At dead of night!" I muttered.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Some folks might say there was madness in his method,” muttered the Inspector.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Lord Cochrane seemed to be expressing the views of all, for a murmur of assent, with a mutter of hearty, deep-sea curses, ran round the circle.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And this again, that that insurgent horror was knit to him closer than a wife, closer than an eye; lay caged in his flesh, where he heard it mutter and felt it struggle to be born; and at every hour of weakness, and in the confidence of slumber, prevailed against him, and deposed him out of life.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Very strange!” muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)