quiet (down)

verb

Definition of quiet (down)next
as in to hush
to stop talking the kids quieted down when they realized I was about to ask them if they wanted ice cream

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for quiet (down)
  1. hush
  2. dry up
  3. clam up
  4. shut up
Verb
  • Hans Op de Beeck’s first dalliance with a luxury house feels a lot like his art — hushed, contemplative, and slightly under the radar.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The lounge is a real scene, especially during afternoon tea, when a perfectly coiffed crowd has hushed discussions about worldly matters.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of hush
Verb
  • As those funds began drying up in September 2023, some states started to address these shortfalls on their own.
    — Caitlyn Collins, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Nevertheless, the agency told the company to temporarily shut down some of its nearby injection wells, and, according to Faulkner, the purge on his land dried up for the first time in years.
    — Nick Bowlin, ProPublica, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of dry up
Verb
  • Anyone asked by local or national media over the past few months if they’d been invited to the nuptials clammed up quickly.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 2 July 2026
  • On Israel, a lot of candidates have clammed up.
    — Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 22 June 2026
Definition of clam up
Verb
  • Nobody was telling Meg to shut up in the comments section, as Chlöe’s music peers gave her a ton of love for the costume.
    — Michael Saponara, Billboard, 26 Oct. 2026
  • At breakfast, Victor won’t shut up about Tomica being a Traitor.
    — Alice Burton, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of shut up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

quiet
quiet (down)
quieted
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Quiet (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quiet%20%28down%29. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of reticent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All