Phrase guide

dead men tell no tales

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /dɛd mɛn tɛl nəʊ teɪlz/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

A dead person can no longer reveal information, especially information which others wish to keep secret.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 死無對證 /死无对证 (sǐwúduìzhèng) — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Czech: mrtví muži nic neřeknou — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Esperanto: la mortintoj ne atestas — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Finnish: kuolleet eivät tiedä mitään — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • French: les morts ne parlent pas — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Galician: home morto non dá fala — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Galician: home morto non fala — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • German: Tote reden nicht — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Greek: οι νεκροί δεν λένε παραμύθια (oi nekroí den léne paramýthia) — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Italian: i morti non parlano — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Japanese: 死人に口無し (shinin ni kuchi nashi) — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Korean: 죽은 자는 말이 없다 (jugeun janeun mar-i eopda) — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Polish: martwi głosu nie mają — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Portuguese: mortos não falam — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Russian: мёртвые не болта́ют (mjórtvyje ne boltájut) — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Serbo-Croatian: мртва уста не говоре — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Serbo-Croatian: mrtva usta ne govore — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Spanish: los muertos no hablan — a dead person can no longer reveal information
  • Thai: คนตายพูดไม่ได้ (kōn-dtāai-pût-mâi-dâi) — a dead person can no longer reveal information