lost for words
Unable to speak
Lost for words describes being unable to speak because of strong emotion, surprise, or shock.
Someone who is lost for words has been so affected by what they've witnessed or heard that they temporarily can't formulate a response.
When she saw the surprise party, she was completely lost for words.
The phrase often appears after moments of profound beauty, devastating news, or unexpected kindness.
In British English, at a loss for words is the more common variant.
- tongue-tiedUnable to express oneself
- speechlessUnable to talk
- dumbstruckRendered speechless by shock
- struck dumbSilenced by astonishment
- silenceTotal lack of sound
flabbergasted · choked · gobsmacked · inarticulateness · mute · shock · dumbfounded · floored · stunned · taken aback · mental block · pause · catch one's breath · awe · moved · freeze · emotional · awestruck
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- word phrasesbuzzword, catchword, byword, watchword, codeword
- speechlessspeechless, mute, tongue-tied, dumbstruck, silent
- silence commandshush, shh, shush, be quiet, quiet
lost for wordseloquent
Fluent and persuasive
articulate · fluent · verbose · loquacious · silver-tongued
lost for wordscomposed
Calm and self-possessed
unflappable · quick on one's feet · poised · coolheaded · self-possessed
word, lost, loss, words, loser, losing, wording, password, loses