Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Tongue-tied \Tongue"-tied`\, a.
Destitute of the power of distinct articulation; having an impediment in the speech, esp. when caused by a short fr[ae]num.
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Unable to speak freely, from whatever cause.
Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity.
--Shak.
Wiktionary
a. 1 (context idiomatic English) Unable to express oneself clearly or fluently; at a loss for words. 2 Suffering from tongue-tie or ankyloglossia.
WordNet
adj. unable to express yourself clearly or fluently; "felt tongue-tied with embarrassment"; "incoherent with grief" [syn: incoherent]
Wikipedia
Tongue-Tied is the tenth in a series of collections of short stories by Australian author Paul Jennings. It was released in 2002.
Usage examples of "tongue-tied".
How tongue-tied he would have been, sitting on the black haircloth sofa in the Wentworth parlour and gazing at the open soapstone stove!
This disturbance that had routed him out of his room before he had completed preparation for bed, this aimless running about of men, the tongue-tied lack of explanation on the part of Hennes, all were to him nothing but a series of pinpricks.
Back in the main terminal a few officious little jobsworths had tried to argue the point with him, only to go all uncertain and tongue-tied when Lewis gave them his best thoughtful stare.
When I came to Launde I was almost as bad as Nick, all meek and tongue-tied.
I met their parents, who were a shepherd and wife, tongue-tied and staring, murmuring about Vili and thinking I did not understand.
Carl was the very one he had wanted to complain to, and now here he was and Bonner was tongue-tied.
German-speaking world the Bavarian playwrights Franz Xaver Kroetz and Martin Sperr, the Austrians Wolfgang Bauer and Peter Turrini, have also become masters of this type of highly laconic dialogue in which silences and half-sentences are used to uncover the mental processes of tongue-tied individuals.
To the Daily Universal Register it had been a notably cool reception, while the Morning and Daily Advertiser described Adams as so pitifully embarrassed as to be tongue-tied.
Notoriously tongue-tied around women, Tiny Yates went red from his neck up.
They had never had a real conversation, and for all he knew she would be tongue-tied, or, worse, chatty, and yet he found himself wishing to know more about her.
Merely a humble observer who, when able, speaks on behalf of the tongue-tied multitudes otherwise known as the commonalty, or, more precisely, the rabble.
But mute doesn't mean pick and choose, it means mute, tongue-tied, aphonous, and don't forget it.
Trent saw no incongruity in his presence among the lowest street hawkers and costers, it is also true that the hawkers and costers, usually tongue-tied and uneasy in the presence of gentlemen, were equally relaxed at these sporting events, laughing and nudging freely men whom they would not dare to touch under ordinary circumstances.
If that was Darcy Gallagher, and he assumed it was, he had a good idea why the characteristically dour Finkle had become tongue-tied and bright-eyed whenever her name had come up.
Tongue-tied, lockjawed, he stared at her like a bird transfixed by a snake, hoping for some sign that it was all right, that he had done the right thing.