moved the lips and made mouth movements without making sound; said something insincerely or mechanically.
From 'mouth' (Old English 'múð') plus '-ed' (past tense suffix). The verb form meaning 'to utter' developed in the 1600s.
Silent mouthing is actually harder for the brain than speaking—when you mouth words, you engage different neural pathways than speech, which is why actors practice this technique!
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