What's the difference between dumb and stupid?

Dumb


Definition:

  • (a.) Destitute of the power of speech; unable; to utter articulate sounds; as, the dumb brutes.
  • (a.) Not willing to speak; mute; silent; not speaking; not accompanied by words; as, dumb show.
  • (a.) Lacking brightness or clearness, as a color.
  • (v. t.) To put to silence.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Cheers, then, to an apparent alliance of the NME, a few people in London's trendy E1 district and some dumb young musicians, because "New Rave" is upon us, and there is apparently no stopping it.
  • (2) Four brain smears from dogs which died of dumb rabies were positive for Negri bodies while two brain smears obtained from dogs which died of the furious form of rabies were negative.
  • (3) The court heard that MP responded to Nimmo's message of "Dumb blonde bitch" with the message "That's dumb Dr blonde bitch to you".
  • (4) At the moment, most of our electricity and gas meters are dumb, analogue devices: they record your consumption and someone comes round periodically to take a reading.
  • (5) We now show by immunoelectron microscopy that Fab fragments of a desmin-specific monoclonal antibody mixed with the rod lead to dumb-bell-shaped structures.
  • (6) On admission, a dumb-bell type huge tumor with the destruction of the orbital roof was demonstrated on CT scan and MRI.
  • (7) The non-solid bacilli were further classified on the basis of their morphology to the following forms:-- (a) short but evenly stained (b) indented (c) beaded (d) dumb-bell shaped (e) coccoid and (f) fragmented.
  • (8) In an ideal world, such findings might be interpreted as smart women making smart choices, but instead it seems that this research is just adding fuel to the argument that women who don't have children, regardless of the reason, are not just selfish losers but dumb ones as well.
  • (9) Large granules, 160 nm in diameter, already reported in the ITP (KEMALI 1977a), are also shown as well as tiny flat mixed with large flat dense core vesicles of dumb-bell shape.
  • (10) Critics accused the BBC of dumbing down when Kirsty Young replaced Sue Lawley as host of Desert Island Discs, while t he dismissal of Ed Stourton from the Today presenting team was executed shambolically , with the presenter learning his fate from a rival news organisation rather than his bosses.
  • (11) As in canine rabies there are furious and dumb forms of the disease.
  • (12) Charlie Hebdo was launched by a group of "non-conformists" who had previously run a monthly called Hara Kiri (whose subtitle read: "dumb and nasty").
  • (13) He might have been born with a silver spoon and declared bankruptcy four or five times but he is not dumb.
  • (14) A GST on fresh food is an exceptionally dumb strategy in the midst of an obesity crisis | Catherine King Read more Labor said that much of that money would go towards compensating lower income earners, leaving little money for other services.
  • (15) Dumb rabies and cysticerci in dogs being sold to people in rural communities pose potential public health hazards.
  • (16) In a blog published on Friday afternoon entitled "My teenage mistakes" , Weldon said his year-long flirtation would have remained the embarrassing stuff of his youth had he not a few years later done what he described as a "dumb thing" and boasted about his past in an Oxford student newspaper.
  • (17) Mitt's now trying to rebut the "Let Detroit go bankrupt" line o argument, which is dumb.
  • (18) The internet of things is the idea of creating a home where everything is connected to the internet, creating “swarm intelligence” from individually dumb devices.
  • (19) Gove launched an all-out attack on the "educational establishment", claiming it suffered from "defeatism, political correctness and the entrenched culture of dumbing down".
  • (20) "We will tackle head-on the defeatism, the political correctness and the entrenched culture of dumbing down that is at the heart of our educational establishment."

Stupid


Definition:

  • (a.) Very dull; insensible; senseless; wanting in understanding; heavy; sluggish; in a state of stupor; -- said of persons.
  • (a.) Resulting from, or evincing, stupidity; formed without skill or genius; dull; heavy; -- said of things.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A series of hierarchical multiple regressions revealed the effects of Surgency, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect on evoking upset in spouses through condescension (e.g., treating spouse as stupid or inferior), possessiveness (demanding too much time and attention), abuse (slapping spouse), unfaithfulness (having sex with others), inconsiderateness (leaving toilet seat up), moodiness (crying a lot), alcohol abuse (drinking too much alcohol), emotional constriction (hiding emotions to act tough), and self-centeredness (acting selfishly).
  • (2) In 1999, Kamprad admitted his past involvement with Nazism in a book about his life and asked for forgiveness for his "stupidity."
  • (3) Would I be stupid not to wait another six months or so, to get a 90% mortgage given the cons of Help to Buy?
  • (4) The lucky thing is, says Susan Calman , that although she is "an eternal worrier, occasionally I do something stupid."
  • (5) "The whole thing was stupid, Donald called him at once to discuss it, he had such a go at him, I mean, fuck, it's a shame we didn't record it, he fucked him up good, had such a proper fucking go at him."
  • (6) @HunterFelt October 28, 2013 Ali Mason (@alimason) Reassuring to see the #redsox aren't the only ones who can find stupid ways to lose.
  • (7) But like so many of his colleagues in the Trump administration , Spicer has shown us how unconsciousness and stupidity can, however paradoxically, assume a Machiavellian function – how a flagrant example of gross insensitivity and flat-out odiousness can serve as yet another useful and convenient distraction.
  • (8) He must have had PR training – didn’t it stretch to not saying stupid stuff?
  • (9) I’d love to say it’s this big, machiavellian plan, but the main thing to blame is human stupidity,” says Phillip Adcock, author of Shoppology: The Science of Supermarket Shopping.
  • (10) Barack Obama today phoned the white policeman he said had "acted stupidly" in arresting a black Harvard professor in his own home and invited the officer to visit the White House as the president attempted to defuse a growing race row over the incident.
  • (11) It’s just one stupid statement after another.” Large crowds of protesters gathered outside the Gyumri base, where Permyakov is now being held, demanding that he be handed over to Armenian law-enforcement to ensure he is prosecuted locally.
  • (12) And then her drug use got harder, and more desperate, and then it wasn't funny any more; and then, when she was trying to clean up, she was dead, gone to join "the stupid club", as Kurt Cobain's mother described all the rock stars who end up dead at 27.
  • (13) You've got to have more than that, you've got to make them better players, because players aren't stupid.
  • (14) Ukip is exploiting the stupidity of ignorant anti-immigrant voters for electoral gain.
  • (15) I still have a few pints of gin and tonic before I go onstage but nothing stupid."
  • (16) More here: UK regulator urges banks to speed up swaps mis-selling compensation 8.40am GMT More reaction to the decision to send riot police to evict people from the offices of Greece's former state broadcaster this morning , starting with journalist Nick Malkoutzis: Nick Malkoutzis (@NickMalkoutzis) 5 mths after flicking switch on public broadcaster ERT, gov't tries to settle issue by sending riot police to remove remaining staff #Greece November 7, 2013 Nick Malkoutzis (@NickMalkoutzis) While #ERT will be off air for good after police intervention, the stain of how its closure has been handled won't wash away easily #Greece November 7, 2013 Lady Mondegreen (@amaenad) Like a mean stupid dog appeasing a cruel master, the Greek government wants to lay ERT's limp body at the troika's feet.
  • (17) The boss of a successful US hedge fund has quit the industry with an extraordinary farewell letter dismissing his rivals as over-privileged "idiots" and thanking "stupid" traders for making him rich.
  • (18) I think that's a challenge all of us go through, whether it's a parent knowing they are going to have to die and leave their kids behind or it's a young person saying I haven't left my mark yet, I lived for no reason – but that's a stupid way of thinking because as Hazel says in the book there will come a day when Mozart isn't remembered so don't worry about it!
  • (19) The president should have directed the Justice Department to stop taking stupid points and petty appeals.” One reason the Justice Department pursued the habeas cases so hard was its client: the Pentagon.
  • (20) More from Behind the joke • James Acaster: 'Normal people perv solo' • Phil Wang: impossibly wise or offensively stupid • Holly Walsh: 'I build my comedy block-by-block like Lego'