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• n  the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak
  her muteness was a consequence of her deafness
• n  a refusal to speak when expected

• And Negroponte's muteness on Cheney's push to exempt the CIA seemed to signal a reply of "thanks, but no thanks" from the chief of the spies.
• But beneath its muteness a target is supercharged with an imagery of aggression: every target implies a weapon and someone aiming.
• To combat this deafness and muteness, societies of intrepid and hard-eared listeners have been formed, who sit through concerts of contemporary music almost without flinching.

• mutism
• silence

News & Articles

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• Phillips isn't talking, but has plenty to say
  Brandon Phillips has gone "media mute" again here in Reds camp. Only this time, it's a selective form of media muteness. He's not talking to the Cincinnati beat reporters, the guys around him essentially on a daily basis.
  March 6, 2014 - Major League Baseball

Quotes

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• James Earl Jones in Reuters
  Growing up, I was mute to the outside world, but there were hundreds of conversations in my head......Through a love of reading, I was able to overcome my muteness and pursue a career in which my voice would be my most prominent asset,Jones...
• Zora Neale Hurston in New Yorker
  ) Celie's chronic and emblematic problem, in other words, revolves around what Hurston called "the muteness of slavery."