say the quiet part loud

verb

To willingly express a sentiment that is normally considered embarrassing or disreputable to hold; to reveal an ulterior motive.

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Meanings

verbsay the quiet part loud (third-person singular simple present says the quiet part loud, present participle saying the quiet part loud, simple past and past participle said the quiet part loud)

present singular third person says the quiet part loud · participle present saying the quiet part loud · participle past said the quiet part loud · past said the quiet part loud · alternative say the quiet part out loud

  1. idiomaticTo willingly express a sentiment that is normally considered embarrassing or disreputable to hold; to reveal an ulterior motive.

    “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” the president, Epstein’s sometime associate, infamously bragged, once again saying, with stunning efficiency, the quiet part loud.

    2019 July 9, Megan Garber, “When Jeffrey Epstein Joked About Sex Abuse”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2019
    2 more examples

    “Just what are you trying to say here, Miss Parker?” “That you’re a jingoistic idiot.” Yeah, I said the quiet part loud. I blame the pain meds. But there‘s no way I was letting this metal-heavy moron lecture me about my duty to my country, without giving me the chance to make up my own mind.

    2012, Dana Fredsti, Plague Town: An Ashley Parker Novel, Titan Books, chapt. 9

    Donald Trump is not subtle. While normal political language functions through implication and indirection, Mr. Trump luxuriates in saying the quiet part loud. But in doing so, Mr. Trump exposes what drives the politics of the movement he commands.

    2018 March 17, Chris Hayes, “Chris Hayes: What ‘Law and Order’ Means to Trump”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2021

Origin

Corpus searches seem to confirm that this phrase was absent from widespread usage until after the mid-1990s, when the cartoon character Krusty the Clown used a similar phrase in the episode "A Star Is Burns" of the American animated TV series The Simpsons, saying, "I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet."

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

say the quiet part loud. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/say%20the%20quiet%20part%20loud

MLA

“say the quiet part loud.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/say%20the%20quiet%20part%20loud. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “say the quiet part loud,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/say%20the%20quiet%20part%20loud.

Source: say the quiet part loud on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.