mutism
- n the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak
- She has a condition called selective mutism that is neither as rare nor as hopeless as experts believed.
- Cho had been diagnosed with severe depression and selective mutism, a social anxiety disorder that inhibited him from speaking.
- But so-called congenital deaf-mutism is actually a misnomer because inborn defects of the vocal cords that make speech impossible are almost unknown.