Meanings
comparative quieter · comparative more quiet · superlative quietest · superlative most quiet
- With little or no sound; free of disturbing noise.
I can't hear the music; it is too quiet.
2 more examples
On the light streets, better streetcleaners, more trees, more police, and quieter buses were the most popular improvements, followed by cutting down the number of cars and improving children's play space.
1982, Donald Appleyard, Livable Streets, page 98Before long, the unsuspecting salesman was earnestly pitching him "the quietest noisemaker on the market."
1999 May 4, William Safire, “Essay; The Quiet Noisemaker”, in The New York TimesSynonyms: hushed, muffled · Antonyms: loud, blaring, blasting, booming, cacophonous, clangorous, clamorous, clattering
- Not busy, of low quantity.
Business was quiet for the season.
2 more examples
The traffic was quiet for a Monday morning.
It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLCSynonyms: slow, unbusy, abeyant, at rest, cessant, dormant, dull, fallow
- Not talking much or not talking loudly; reserved.
He's a very quiet man usually, but is very chatty after a few beers.
Synonyms: reticent, taciturn, reticent, unloquacious, untalkative, reserved, silent, silentious · Antonyms: garrulous, prolix, chattering, chattery, chatty, effusive, gabby, garrulous
- Not showy; undemonstrative.
a quiet dress
3 more examples
quiet colours
a quiet movement
For women, it requires "quiet"-colored clothes, with fully covered collarbones, ankles, and knees.
2019, Abby Chava Stein, Becoming Eve, Seal Press, page 52Synonyms: modest, plain, simple, aloof, cool, distant, frosty, hankty
present singular third person quiets · participle present quieting · participle past quieted · past quieted
- transitiveTo cause (someone or something) to become quiet.
Can you quiet your child? He’s making lots of noise.
2 more examples
The umpire quieted the crowd so the game could continue in peace.
For thou haſt created us for thy ſelfe, and our heart cannot be quieted till it may fine repoſe in thee.
1631, Saint Augustine, “He Admires Gods Majesty, and is Inflamed with a Deepe Desire of Praising Him”, in William Watts, transl., Saint Augustines Confessions Translated: […], London: […] Iohn Norton, for Iohn Partridge […], →OCLC, book 1, paragraph 1, page 2Synonyms: quiet down, quieten
- intransitiveTo become quiet or calm.
When you quiet, we can start talking.
Synonyms: quiet down, quieten
plural quiets
- countableuncountableThe absence of sound; quietness.
We need a bit of quiet before we can start the show.
2 more examples
There was a strange quiet in the normally very lively plaza.
[…]for a moment I consider waking the snoring José Miguel. Then quiet descends, and after a time I drift off as well.
1989 May, Uwe George, “Venezuela's Islands in Time”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 542 - countableuncountableThe absence of movement; stillness, tranquility.
- countableuncountableThe absence of disturbance or trouble; peace, security.
The King & his Nobles thinke they may ſleepe in quiet, Now they haue giuen vs a little holy water at the Court, But thers no ſuch matter, we be no ſuch fooles, To be bobd out with words and after come to hanging: […]
1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act III
- Be quiet.
Quiet! The children are sleeping.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveWith little or no sound; free of disturbing noise.
adjectiveHaving little motion or activity; calm.
adjectiveNot busy, of low quantity.
adjectiveNot talking much or not talking loudly; reserved.
adjectiveNot showy; undemonstrative.
adjectiveRequiring little or no interaction.
verbTo cause (someone or something) to become quiet.
verbTo become quiet or calm.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivecharacterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
adjectivefree of noise or uproar; or making little if any sound
adjectivenot showy or obtrusive
adjective(of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves
adjective(of the sun) characterized by a low level of surface phenomena, such as sunspots
nouna disposition free from stress or emotion
adverbwith little or no activity or no agitation (‘quiet’ is a nonstandard variant for ‘quietly’)
verbbecome quiet or quieter
verbmake calm or still
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷyeh₁-“rest”
- Latinquiētus
- Old Frenchquiet
- Middle Englishquiete
- Englishquiet
From Middle English quiete, from Old French quiet (adjective) and quiete (noun), from Latin quiētus, past participle of quiēscere (“to keep quiet, rest”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“rest”). Doublet of coy, quit, quite, and quietus. Largely displaced native English still in the sense of "with little or no sound".
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans stil
- stilwith little sound
Ancient Greek ἤρεμος, ἥσυχος
- ἤρεμος (ḗremos)with little sound
- ἥσυχος (hḗsukhos)having little motion
- σιγή (sigḗ)absence of sound
- σιωπή (siōpḗ)absence of sound
- ἡσυχία (hēsukhía)absence of movement
Arabic صَامِت, هَادِئ
- صَامِت (ṣāmit)with little sound
- هَادِئ (hādiʔ)with little sound
Basque bare
- barehaving little motion
Bengali শান্ত, খামোশ
- শান্ত (śanto)with little sound
- খামোশ (khamōś)with little sound
Bulgarian тих, мирен
- тих (tih)with little sound
- мирен (miren)having little motion
- спокоен (spokoen)having little motion
- мълчалив (mălčaliv)not talking
- успокоявам (uspokojavam)to cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- стихвам (stihvam)to become quiet or calm
- успокоявам се (uspokojavam se)to become quiet or calm
- тишина (tišina)absence of sound
- спокойствие (spokojstvie)absence of movement
Catalan silenciós, tranquil
- silencióswith little sound
- tranquilwith little sound
- quiethaving little motion
- tranquilhaving little motion
- pocnot busy
- micanot busy
- silenciósnot talking
- calmarto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
Chinese Mandarin 安靜 /安静, 寧靜 /宁静
- 安靜 /安静 (ānjìng)with little sound
- 寧靜 /宁静 (níngjìng)with little sound
- 闲散 (xiánsǎn)not busy
- 閒散 /闲散 (xiánsǎn)not busy
Czech tichý, klidný
- tichýwith little sound
- klidnýhaving little motion
- tichýnot talking
- tichoabsence of sound
Danish stille, tyst
- stillewith little sound
- tystwith little sound
- rolignot busy
- stillenot busy
- stillenot talking
- stilhedabsence of sound
- roabsence of sound
- roabsence of movement
Dutch stil, rustig
- stilwith little sound
- rustigwith little sound
- vredigwith little sound
- geruislooswith little sound
- geluidlooswith little sound
- rustighaving little motion
- kalmhaving little motion
- rustignot busy
- zwijgzaamnot talking
- stilnot talking
- rustignot talking
- kalmerento cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- kalmerento become quiet or calm
- rustig wordento become quiet or calm
Esperanto mallaŭta, trankvila
- mallaŭtawith little sound
- trankvilahaving little motion
- kvietoabsence of sound
Estonian vaikne, vaikne
- vaiknewith little sound
- vaiknenot talking
- tasanenot talking
Finnish hiljainen, äänetön
- hiljainenwith little sound
- äänetönwith little sound
- hiljainenhaving little motion
- rauhallinenhaving little motion
- hiljainennot busy
- hiljainennot talking
- vaisunot talking
- hiljentääto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- rauhoittaato cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- hiljentyäto become quiet or calm
- rauhoittuato become quiet or calm
- hiljaisuusabsence of sound
- hiljaisuusabsence of movement
French calme, silencieux
- calmewith little sound
- silencieuxwith little sound
- tranquillehaving little motion
- calmehaving little motion
- paisiblehaving little motion
- calmenot busy
- silencieuxnot talking
- discretnot talking
- apaiserto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- calmerto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- s'apaiserto become quiet or calm
- se calmerto become quiet or calm
- se taireto become quiet or calm
- se tranquilliserto become quiet or calm
- silenceabsence of sound
- silenceabsence of movement
- calmeabsence of movement
German still, ruhig
- stillwith little sound
- ruhigwith little sound
- leisewith little sound
- stillhaving little motion
- ruhignot talking
- stillnot talking
- ruhento cause (someone or something) to become quiet
Greek ήρεμος, σιγανός
- ήρεμος (íremos)with little sound
- σιγανός (siganós)with little sound
- σιωπηλός (siopilós)with little sound
- ήσυχος (ísychos)having little motion
- ήσυχος (ísychos)not busy
- ήρεμος (íremos)not talking
- ησυχία (isychía)absence of sound
- ησυχία (isychía)absence of movement
Hebrew שֶׁקֶט
- שֶׁקֶט (shakét)with little sound
Hindi शांत, ख़ामोश
- शांत (śānt)with little sound
- ख़ामोश (xāmoś)with little sound
- अव्यस्त (avyast)not busy
- शांत (śānt)not talking
- मौन (maun)not talking
- शांत करना (śānt karnā)to cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- चुप कराना (cup karānā)to cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- शांत होना (śānt honā)to become quiet or calm
- शांति (śānti)absence of sound
- सन्नाटा (sannāṭā)absence of sound
- ख़ामोशी (xāmośī)absence of sound
- गतिहीनता (gatihīntā)absence of movement
Hungarian csendes, halk
- csendeswith little sound
- halkwith little sound
- csendabsence of sound
- nyugalomabsence of sound
Icelandic hljóður
- hljóðurwith little sound
Irish ciúin, ciúnas
- ciúinwith little sound
- ciúnasabsence of sound
Italian quieto, silenzioso
- quietowith little sound
- silenziosowith little sound
- calmohaving little motion
- quietonot talking
- taciturnonot talking
- calmareto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- placareto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- silenzioabsence of sound
- paceabsence of movement
- tranquillitàabsence of movement
Japanese 静かな, 閑散たる
- 静かな (shizuka na)with little sound
- 閑散たる (kansan taru)not busy
- 閑静 (kansei)not busy
- 沈黙 (chinmoku)absence of sound
- 静寂 (seijaku)absence of sound
- 平静 (heisei)absence of movement
Korean 조용하다
- 조용하다 (joyonghada)with little sound
Latin tacitus, silens
- tacituswith little sound
- silenswith little sound
- tranquillushaving little motion
- tacitusnot talking
- pācōto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- silentiumabsence of sound
- quiēsabsence of movement
Latvian kluss, lēns
- klusswith little sound
- lēnsnot busy
- klussnot talking
- klusumsabsence of sound
Lithuanian tylus
- tyluswith little sound
Malay diam, senyap
- diamwith little sound
- senyapwith little sound
- ديامwith little sound
- سڽڤwith little sound
Māori māika, hū
- māikawith little sound
- hūwith little sound
- mahohaving little motion
- māikanot talking
- whakatakupenot talking
- whakamūmūto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
Norwegian rolig, rolig
- rolighaving little motion
- rolignot busy
Norwegian Bokmål stille, stille
- stillewith little sound
- stillenot talking
Persian خاموش, آرام
- خاموش (xâmuš)with little sound
- آرام (ârâm)with little sound
- کم صدا (kam sedâ)with little sound
- آرام (ârâm)having little motion
- آرام (ârâm)not busy
- آرام (ârâm)not talking
- کم گوی (kam guy)not talking
- ساکت شدن (sâket šodan)to become quiet or calm
- آرام شدن (ârâm šodan)to become quiet or calm
Polish cichy, spokojny
- cichywith little sound
- spokojnyhaving little motion
- uciszaćto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- uciszyćto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- uspokajaćto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- uspokoićto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- uciszyć sięto become quiet or calm
- zamilknąćto become quiet or calm
- uspokajać sięto become quiet or calm
- uspokoić sięto become quiet or calm
Portuguese quieto, silencioso
- quietowith little sound
- silenciosowith little sound
- quietohaving little motion
- calmonot busy
- tranqüilonot busy
- caladonot talking
- silenciosonot talking
- silenciarto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- tranquilizarto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- acalmarto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- caladaabsence of sound
- silêncioabsence of sound
- quietudeabsence of movement
Punjabi ਚੁੱਪ-ਚਾਪ, ਚੁੱਪੀ
- ਚੁੱਪ-ਚਾਪ (cuppa-cāp)with little sound
- ਚੁੱਪੀ (cuppī)absence of sound
Romanian încet, liniștit
- încetwith little sound
- liniștitwith little sound
- silențioswith little sound
- liniștithaving little motion
- calmhaving little motion
- tăcutnot talking
- silențiosnot talking
Russian ти́хий, споко́йный
- ти́хий (tíxij)with little sound
- споко́йный (spokójnyj)having little motion
- ти́хий (tíxij)not busy
- споко́йный (spokójnyj)not talking
- ти́хий (tíxij)not talking
- успока́ивать (uspokáivatʹ)to cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- успоко́ить (uspokóitʹ)to cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- успока́иваться (uspokáivatʹsja)to become quiet or calm
- успоко́иться (uspokóitʹsja)to become quiet or calm
- тишина́ (tišiná)absence of sound
- споко́йствие (spokójstvije)absence of movement
- поко́й (pokój)absence of movement
Scottish Gaelic sèimh, sàmhach
- sèimhwith little sound
- sàmhachwith little sound
- socairwith little sound
- ciùinwith little sound
- sàmhchairabsence of sound
- tosdabsence of sound
Slovak tichý
- tichýwith little sound
Spanish quieto, silencioso
- quietowith little sound
- silenciosowith little sound
- tranquilowith little sound
- calmowith little sound
- pacíficowith little sound
- silentewith little sound
- calladowith little sound
- tranquilohaving little motion
- detenidohaving little motion
- quietohaving little motion
- calmohaving little motion
- poconot busy
- calmarto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- callarto cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- callarto become quiet or calm
- silencioabsence of sound
- calmaabsence of movement
- tranquilidadabsence of movement
Swedish tyst, stilla
- tystwith little sound
- stillawith little sound
- lugnhaving little motion
- lugnnot busy
- tystnot talking
- tystato cause (someone or something) to become quiet
- tystnato become quiet or calm
- tystnadabsence of sound
- lugnabsence of movement
Tamil அமைதி, அசைவற்ற
- அமைதி (amaiti)with little sound
- அசைவற்ற (acaivaṟṟa)having little motion
- மௌனம் (mauṉam)not talking
Thai เงียบ, นิ่ง
- เงียบ (ngîiap)with little sound
- นิ่ง (nîng)with little sound
- สงบ (sà-ngòp)with little sound
Turkish sessiz, suskun
- sessizwith little sound
- suskunnot talking
- sessizlikabsence of sound
- sükûtabsence of sound
Ukrainian ти́хий, спокі́йний
- ти́хий (týxyj)with little sound
- спокі́йний (spokíjnyj)having little motion
- ти́хий (týxyj)not busy
- тиша (tyša)absence of sound
Urdu خاموش, خاموشی
- خاموش (xāmoś)with little sound
- خاموشی (xāmośī)absence of sound
Vietnamese yên tĩnh, im lặng
- yên tĩnhwith little sound
- im lặngwith little sound
Welsh tawel, distaw
- tawelwith little sound
- distawwith little sound
Yiddish שטיל, רויִק
- שטיל (shtil)with little sound
- רויִק (ruik)with little sound
- רויִק (ruik)not talking
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with quiet
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
quiet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quiet
“quiet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quiet. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quiet,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quiet.
Source: quiet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.