dead air

1. A period of unwanted silence during a television or radio broadcast caused by an unintended interruption or malfunction. A technical glitch during the Super Bowl led to several ads being replaced by a blank, silent screen, dead air that may cost those companies thousands—if not millions—of dollars.

2. By extension, any period of awkward or uncomfortable silence. A horrible dead air hung over the room after Jonas finished reading his poetry to the crowd.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Menelaos	-	Greek Mythology
Dickerson	['dikəsən]
Sarita (2)	-	Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali
Aurora	ow-RO-rah (Spanish), ə-RAWR-ə (English), OW-ro-rah (Finnish)	Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, German, Romanian, Finnish, Roman Mythology
Rowina	ro-EE-nə	English (Rare)
Gregorius	-	Late Greek (Latinized)