Muteness \Mute"ness\, n.
   The quality or state of being mute; speechlessness.
   [1913 Webster]

	

	muteness
    n 1: the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak; "her
         muteness was a consequence of her deafness" [syn: mutism,
         muteness]
    2: a refusal to speak when expected; "his silence about my
       contribution was surprising" [syn: muteness, silence]

	

	36 Moby Thesaurus words for "muteness":
   anaudia, aphasia, aphonia, aphrasia, brevity, briefness,
   brusqueness, conciseness, curtness, deaf-muteness, dumbness,
   economy of words, inarticulateness, jargon aphasia, laconicalness,
   laconism, loss of speech, motor aphasia, mutism, obmutescence,
   paranomia, paraphasia, pauciloquy, quietness, quietude, shortness,
   silence, sparingness of words, speechlessness, taciturnity,
   terseness, tonguelessness, unloquaciousness, untalkativeness,
   voicelessness, wordlessness