How to Use quicksilver in a Sentence

quicksilver

noun
  • There’s way too much darkness, and not enough quicksilver wit.
    — Michael O'Sullivan, Twin Cities, 6 June 2019
  • Its boom time was the mid- to late 1800s, when its quicksilver mines thrived.
    — Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Crawford wins the fight and the argument with his quicksilver skillset and durable smarts.
    — Manouk Akopyan, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2023
  • Police found quicksilver, lead and cadmium in the man's home.
    — Darko Janjevic, USA TODAY, 29 June 2018
  • Schools of smolt salmon flicker like quicksilver, preparing for their journey out to sea.
    — Neil Ever Osborne, Smithsonian, 24 Oct. 2017
  • The tears will flow like quicksilver this weekend in New Almaden.
    — Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2017
  • The district was the site of a number quicksilver mines in the 19th century.
    — Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2023
  • Arthur Ashe was a quicksilver figure on the court, erratic at times but never boring.
    — Edward Kosner, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2018
  • The guns, as elusive as quicksilver in a country awash in weapons, now belonged to whoever bought the contents in a blind auction.
    — Scott Wilson, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2018
  • At other times of day, its opaque blackness, which seems to absorb all the light that surrounds it, acts as a kind of backdrop for the sky’s quicksilver mood changes.
    — Amanda Fortini, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2017
  • There was a recognition that passed between us in that first moment, quicksilver fast and white hot, like a lightning strike on a deserted beach.
    — Jill Gleeson, Woman's Day, 9 June 2017
  • The element mercury is the liquid metal also known as quicksilver.
    — Jon Pareles, New York Times, 3 July 2019
  • This is the latest feature from Pixar, quicksilver in its pacing and clear-eyed in its conflicts between parents and children.
    — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 8 Mar. 2022
  • Rolling shoulders, swiveling hips, and sinuous torsos ride atop quicksilver footwork.
    — Karen Campbell, BostonGlobe.com, 5 May 2023
  • That is but one example of Smith’s quicksilver technique in service to his panoramic imaginings.
    — Alexander C. Kafka, Washington Post, 8 June 2019
  • Wolcott Balestier was a darting, quicksilver figure, who probably deserves a book of his own.
    — Charles McGrath, The New Yorker, 1 July 2019
  • Allowing the quicksilver winger to leave is illogical for a myriad of reasons.
    — SI.com, 11 July 2019
  • Yet his work has a lively, quicksilver quality that continues to feel generative.
    — Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 29 June 2026
  • The currencies are a new ghost in the machine, enticing strands of codes and squiggles that move like quicksilver and hold strange power over our imaginations.
    — Jeffrey Fleishman, latimes.com, 9 Feb. 2018
  • Seeing the thoroughbreds run live was a far different experience than on television, which doesn’t give a sense of their quicksilver speed.
    — Vanessa Hua, SFChronicle.com, 7 June 2019
  • Injury has kept him out since February, but the quicksilver defender will be returning very shortly.
    — SI.com, 24 Aug. 2019
  • Each strophe creates a distinctive sound world on the fly — now fiercely dissonant, now languid and sweet-toned — and the piece moves from one to the next with quicksilver elusiveness.
    — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Jan. 2018
  • Realism is the default for writers and actors today, but the universe that Hnath constructs is pure theatrical quicksilver.
    — Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 5 June 2017
  • Nissinen cites the dancer’s edge, quicksilver dynamics, and natural elegance.
    — Karen Campbell, BostonGlobe.com, 10 May 2018
  • Both can assume any guise and, when smashed or shredded, mold themselves back into shape; the difference is that, whereas the earlier model was like quicksilver, the new one appears to be made of molasses.
    — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2019
  • The New York Times runs an article about it almost every day, and stories of nightmare commutes race like quicksilver across social media.
    — Ryu Spaeth, New Republic, 6 June 2017
  • Cobham-Hervey, who, like Reddy, is Australian, is a quicksilver actor who doesn’t overplay the role’s iconic trappings.
    — Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Sep. 2020
  • Williams brings exquisite delicacy to the character, and her open, translucent face with its quicksilver changes speaks more vividly to the story’s emotional stakes than any line of dialogue.
    — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Eventually, 438 feet of handmade wool felt will meander through and among the rocks, evoking deep-blue pools, quicksilver channels and turbulent whitewater.
    — Susan Brown, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 June 2023
  • Hurts Like Hell is Cornfield’s twangiest album yet, thanks in large part to the pedal steel that slinks through its songs, handled like quicksilver by Adam Brisbin.
    — Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 31 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'quicksilver.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: