silent scream
Soundless cry of terror
A silent scream is an expression of intense anguish, terror, or protest that produces no sound—the mouth open, the face contorted, but nothing audible emerging.
The phrase captures moments when emotion is too overwhelming for voice, or when screaming would be futile or dangerous: Her face was frozen in a silent scream.
It also describes suppressed distress that others cannot perceive: Behind her composure was a silent scream.
- muteWithout voice or sound
- voicelessHaving no voice
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- suffocateKill by blocking air
- throatNeck's inner passage
despair · trapped · choke · agony · emotional pain · horror · mouth · gasp · held breath · terror · helpless · internal · inner turmoil · suppressed · frozen · nightmare · sleep paralysis · soundless
- criescry, shout, yell, wail, shriek
- Mimemime, pantomime, invisible wall, walking against wind, whiteface
- oxymoronsbittersweet, pretty ugly, living dead, act naturally, alone together
silent screamoutburst
Sudden emotional release
public meltdown · tantrum · emotional release · venting · cathartic release
silent, silence, silently, silencer, silencers, silences, silenced, silencing, scream