mutter

/ˈmʌdər/

/ˈmʌtə/

Other forms: muttered; muttering; mutters

When you mutter, you mumble under your breath, often in an angry way. You might mutter to yourself as you clean graffiti off your garage, for example.

An irritable teenager might mutter when her parents make her get off the couch and mow the lawn, and your uncle might mutter at the television every night when he watches the news. When someone mutters, she speaks in a low voice, either to herself or to another person. Mutter was originally moteren in the fourteenth century, and it comes from a Proto-Indo-European root, mut, which was most likely imitative — in other words, it sounds like its meaning.

Definitions of mutter

1. verb

   talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
   synonyms: maunder, mumble, mussitate

   type of:

   mouth, speak, talk, utter, verbalise, verbalize

   express in speech
2. verb

   make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath
   synonyms: croak, gnarl, grumble, murmur

   type of:

   complain, kick, kvetch, plain, quetch, sound off

   express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
3. noun

   a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
   synonyms: murmur, murmuration, murmuring, mussitation, muttering

   type of:

   sound

   the sudden occurrence of an audible event
4. noun

   a complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone
   synonyms: grumble, grumbling, murmur, murmuring, muttering

   type of:

   complaint

   an expression of grievance or resentment