ADJ
- lengthy, long, prolonged
- brief, momentary, a moment's, short
- There was a moment's silence before she replied
- deep, hushed
- absolute, complete, dead, deadly, deathly, total, utter
- We sat in complete silence, save for the ticking of the clock. A deathly silence hung over the town
- shocked, stunned
- awkward, embarrassed, embarrassing, strained, uncomfortable
- An awkward silence followed
- fraught, heavy, ominous, tense
- brooding
- She fell into long, brooding silences
- stony, sullen
- eerie
- companionable
- They walked in companionable silence
- expectant, pregnant
- sudden
VERB + SILENCE
- maintain
- She maintained a stony silence
- break, interrupt, punctuate, shatter
- Lewis finally broke the long silence between them. a silence punctuated only by the occasional sniff from the children
- lapse into, relapse into, retreat into, subside into, trail into (all only used about people)
- He lapsed into a sullen silence
- stun sb into
- The boys were stunned into silence by this news
- be met with
- Her question was met with an uneasy silence
- observe (= as a sign of respect for the dead, etc.)
- A minute's silence for the victims will be observed
SILENCE + VERB
- descend, fall
- A sudden silence fell over the room
- hang, prevail, reign
- Silence reigned
- ensue, follow
- deepen, grow, lengthen, spread, stretch
- He thought for a moment, the silence lengthening
PREP
- in (the) ~
- They ate their breakfast in silence
ADJ
- deafening
- The government's only response has been a deafening silence
- dignified
- deliberate
VERB + SILENCE
- keep, maintain
- He has so far kept a dignified silence on the subject
PREP
- ~ from
- There seems to have been a deliberate silence from the newspapers
PHRASES
- a conspiracy/wall of silence
- There is a conspiracy of silence about what is happening (= nobody is willing to talk about it)
- the right to silence (= the right not to say anything when accused of a crime), a vow of silence
- She has broken her vow of silence on the issue