-
- To save this word, you'll need to log in.
silent treatment
noun
: an act of completely ignoring a person or thing by resort to silence especially as a means of expressing contempt or disapproval
Examples of silent treatment in a Sentence
ever since our run-in at the party she's been giving me the silent treatment
Recent Examples on the Web
My partner is not physically abusive but checks a lot of other boxes: yelling, vicious anger, name-calling, silent treatments.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
Instead, some of us learn to resort to cattiness, silent treatments, passive aggression, and the 'mean-girl' behaviours thought to be inherent to being female.
—Natalie Gil, refinery29.com, 11 July 2023
The team gave Diaz the trademark silent treatment at first, before mobbing him in front of the television cameras and joining in on the celebration.
—Josh Criswell, Chron, 14 May 2023
That silent treatment should end today.
—Bernhard Warner, Fortune, 23 Mar. 2021
After that first homer, did anyone in the dugout give you the silent treatment?
—Dallas News, 15 Sep. 2022
Other countries that recently elected right-wing governments, such as Italy or Sweden, haven’t seen their leaders get the silent treatment from Washington.
—Eugene Kontorovich, WSJ, 7 Nov. 2022
Girl-on-girl aggression definitely happens — anyone who’s lived through middle school (or seen the movie Mean Girls) can attest to things like excluding girls from a group, giving someone the silent treatment, gossiping or divulging secrets.
—Lisa Raffensperger, Discover Magazine, 28 Oct. 2013
That is the adverse outcome of the silent treatment of AI Ethics worker burnout.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'silent treatment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1825, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near silent treatment
Cite this Entry
“Silent treatment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silent%20treatment. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
Kids Definition
silent treatment
noun
: an act of completely ignoring a person or thing by being silent especially as a means of expressing contempt or disapproval
gave him the silent treatment after their breakup
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share