میوت کردن

What it means

میوت کردن (mute-kardan) means to mute someone, on Instagram stories, on X notifications, on a WhatsApp group chat. The follow stays intact, the friendship survives on paper, but the posts stop reaching your eye. It is the softer cousin of بلاک کردن (block-kardan) and the diplomatic alternative to آنفالو کردن (unfollow-kardan).

The verb is colloquial and Gen Z heavy. Older Iranians on Telegram and Instagram know the feature but reach for it less. Younger users mute strategically and constantly.

Compound verb structure

میوت کردن is built from the English noun میوت (mute) plus the native Persian light verb کردن (kardan, to do). The compound follows the same pattern as the other internet verbs (like کردن, ست کردن, تگ زدن), where کردن carries all the conjugation work and the foreign noun stays frozen.

• Present: من میوت می‌کنم (man mute mikonam), تو میوت می‌کنی (to mute mikoni)
• Past: میوتش کردم (mute-esh kardam, I muted him/her)
• Subjunctive: که میوت کنم (ke mute konam)
• Negation: میوت نکردم (mute nakardam, I did not mute)

An adjacent pattern that uses the same noun: روی سایلنت بودن (rooye silent budan, to be on silent), about phones rather than people. Different word, same broad register.

The mute-versus-block-versus-unfollow distinction

Iranian users treat the three as a small social toolkit. آنفالو کردن is visible and slightly hostile. بلاک کردن is total and burns the bridge. میوت کردن is the option you choose when you want peace from someone without paying any social cost. Your mother-in-law’s daily Quranic-quote stories, the cousin who posts twelve gym selfies a day, the colleague whose engagement photoshoot will not end, all of these get muted. The relationship is preserved, the like-button still works when you see the person in real life, but your feed gets its breath back.

How to use it

man storyhash ro mute kardam, hosele-ye in negativity ro nadaram.

I muted her stories, I do not have the patience for this negativity.

من استوری‌هاش رو میوت کردم، حوصله‌ی این نگاتیویتی رو ندارم.

aslan unfollow-esh nakon, faqat mute-esh kon, fardayesh khabari nadareh.

Do not unfollow him at all, just mute him, tomorrow he will not know.

اصلاً آنفالوش نکن، فقط میوتش کن، فرداش خبری نداره.

In our voice

میوت کردن is the verb you reach for when you want distance without drama. In a culture that values keeping social face, the mute is a quiet act of self-care. Iranians have built a whole etiquette around it.

References

• Dehkhoda, میوت
• Vajehyab, میوت