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Voice

Word details

Pronunciation
말ː
Part of speech
noun
Vocabulary level
beginner
Homonyms
6
Derivative
말하다, 말하다

speech; words

Human voice through which thoughts or feelings are expressed and conveyed.

words

The act or attitude through which thoughts or feelings are expressed and conveyed.

language

Sound and letter through which thoughts or feelings are expressed and conveyed.

word; maxim

A word, phrase or sentence.

rumor; gossip

A story about an incident or a rumor that goes around.

sense

A word that is logical or makes sense.

meaning

A word used to emphasize or confirm something.

fortune

A word used to mean that something went OK or great.

frustration

A word expressing lament that a certain act has not been accomplished.

mention; reference

A word that is inteneded to emphasize a previuosly-mentioned object.

reference

A word that is intended to draw attention or finish a sentence.

Idioms

말(이) 못 되다

be unable to become words

To be not good to such an extent as to go beyond description.

말을 자르다

cut off someone's words

To make someone stop talking in the middle of what he/she was saying.

말을 주고받다

give and receive words

To have a conversation.

말을 주워섬기다

chatter words

To say a lot of things at once.

말을 트다

open words

To talk to each other in the low form of language.

말이 ∼지

although one or something is said ~

To be different in reality from what is said or called.

말(이) 나다

Words break out

For a fact or secret that others do not know to be revealed.

Words break out

To become the subject of a conversation.

말이 나오다

Words come out

For a voice to come out.

Words come out

For thoughts to be articulated in words.

Words come out

To become the subject of a conversation.

말(이) 되다

become words

For words to make sense.

become words

For a fact to be agreed upon.

말이 떨어지다

Someone's words drop

For the words of instruction, permission or evaluation to be delivered.

말이 뜨다

One's words are sluggish

For words to keep being blocked or slowed.

말이 막히다

One's words are blocked

For words to be cut off in the middle of being made.

말(이) 많다

have a lot of words

To talk much and be talkative.

There are a lot of words

There are many controversies.

말이 말 같다

Words are like words

For words to be worth listening to.

말(도)[말(을)] 마라

Don't [even] say words

An expression to stress that something is beyond average.

말이 무겁다

Words are heavy

To be prudent without speaking out bluntly.

말이 물 흐르듯 하다

Words are like running water

To be good at talking.

말이야 바른 말이지

to put it into right words

Frankly speaking.

말이 새다

Words leak

For a fact or secret that others do not know to be revealed.

말이 앞서다

Words go ahead

To say something before putting it into action.

말이 오르내리다

Words go up and down

For a story to become a topic.

말이 있다

There is a word

To become a topic or be discussed.

말(이)[말(도)] 아니다

not [even] be a word

For a situation, condition, appearance to be bad or poor.

말이 없다

have no words

To not be talking.

have no words

To usually not talk too much.

말이 적다

have few words

To not talk too much.

말이 좋다

Only the words are good

For someone or something to sound good when he/she or it is said, but the reality is different from it.

말이 통하다

Words open into each other

To be able to communicate with each other.

Words open into each other

To be of one mind.

말을 잊다

forget one's words

For words to not come out due to astonishment or the sense of absurdity.

말 그대로

as the word itself

The same as the fact that is said.

as the word itself

The same as the meaning of a word.

말(을)[말(도)] 못 하다

cannot [even] say words

To be great to such an extent as to go beyond description.

cannot [even] say words

To be difficult or hard to such an extent to go beyond description.

말만 앞세우다

make words go ahead

To only say something without putting it into action.

말뿐이다

be only words

For something to be said without being put into action.

말을 건네다

pass words

To speak to someone.

말을 걸다

address words

To speak to someone first when starting a conversation.

말을 꺼내다

take out words

To start talking.

말을 나누다

share words

To have a conversation.

말을 낮추다

lower one's words

To use the low form of language after using the honorific form.

말을 내리다

take down one's words

To use the low form of language after using the honorific form.

말을 높이다

raise one's words

To use the honorific form of language.

말을 놓다

lay down one's words

To talk in the low form of language.

말을 돌리다

turn one's words

To change the topic into something other than what was asked or talked about.

turn one's words

To say in an indirect manner.

말을 잃다

lose one's words

For words to not come out due to astonishment or shock.

말을 올리다

raise one's words

To use the honorific form of language.

말(을) 삼키다

swallow one's words

To refrain from uttering what one intended to say.

말을 비치다

hint at words

To say in an indirect manner to help others notice what one means.

말을 붙이다

attach words

To talk to someone.

말을 뱉다

spit one's words

To say something in a tough manner.

말을 받다

receive someone's words

To add to what someone just said or answer a question.

말(을) 맞추다

adjust one's words to someone's

To say something that is not different from what someone says.

말(을) 떼다

take one's words off

To begin to speak.

말을 들어 주다

listen to someone's words

To do as someone asked.

말(을) 듣다

listen to someone's words

To do as someone instructed.

listen to words

To move as a human wants.

hear words

To hear something negative.

말을 던지다

throw words

To say in a brief and simple manner.

Proverbs

말 속에 뜻이 있고 뼈가 있다

The meaning and the bone is in the words

For words to have the intention to criticize or attack someone.

말 안 하면 귀신도 모른다

Even a ghost does not know if one does not say it

It is advised to stop keeping a problem to oneself and speak frankly.

말 한마디에 천 냥 빚도 갚는다

Even a word can pay off one thousand nyang, a unit of old Korean coinage, worth of debt

Being a good speaker is important as it can even solve a difficult problem.

말로는 못할 말이 없다

There's nothing to express in words

It is easy to say something that will not be put into action or without obligation to fulfill.

말은 적을수록 좋다

When it comes to words, the less the better; The less said the better

One should guard against talking too much since one can say something that is better left unsaid if one talks too much.

말은 청산유수다

talk like clear water running through a green mountain

To be eloquent.

말은 해야 맛이고 고기는 씹어야 맛이다

One should speak to fully enjoy the flavor, and one should chew meat to fully enjoy the flavor

It is better to say what one has to say.

말이 말을 만든다

Words make words

For the content of words to be exaggerated and change while it passes through people's mouths.

말이 씨가 된다

Words become a seed

If something negative is said repeatedly, it may actually happen.