speechlessness

noun

speechlessness

noun

Etymology From speechless + -ness.

1

The state of being speechless.

  • 'No - rather not, my dear? Well, another night,' he said, hastily translating her speechlessness.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 233:
  • It was her virtue to be tall, pale, characterless and effaced by partial speechlessness.1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 16:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.