also: だまりんぼう · だんまりぼう
noun
silent person; taciturn person
Archaic term for someone who is habitually silent or says very little. Not used in modern everyday speech; may appear in historical or literary contexts.
昔話では、黙坊と呼ばれる男が村に住んでいた。
In an old tale, a man called a 'damaribō' lived in the village.
Archaic kanji spelling; the word is now rare and mostly encountered in older texts.
Variant reading with an inserted ん; less common.
Variant reading with だんまり; less common.
Compound of 黙り (damari, 'silence') + 坊 (bō, 'boy' or 'fellow'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it likely originated as a colloquial or dialectal label for a quiet person.