quiet

KWY-it/ˈkwaɪ.ɪt/

Verbquiets, quieting, quieted

Often confused with quite

11 meanings of quiet

Practice

1
free of noiseadjective
Having little or no sound; free from noise that disturbs.
The countryside felt remarkably quiet once the highway was behind us.
A quiet hum from the refrigerator was the only thing they could hear.
UsageDon't confuse quiet (little sound) with quite (fairly). Both quieter and more quiet are correct.
Similarhushed, muffled
Oppositeloud
Note
Among its near neighbors, hushed suggests sound deliberately lowered and muffled suggests sound dampened by something in the way. Quiet simply reports how little there is to hear.
2
says littleadjective
Tending not to talk much or to speak softly; reserved in manner.
Her quiet colleague surprised everyone by delivering a long, confident speech.
He tends to be quiet around people he doesn't know well.
Similarreserved, reticent, silent, taciturn
Oppositegarrulous, talkative
3
calm (water)adjective
Marked by little motion or activity; calm and still.
The lake lay quiet under the morning mist, its surface unmoving.
By dawn the wind had died and the fields were quiet.
Similarcalm, peaceful, serene, relaxed, placid
Oppositeturbulent, stormy, rough, agitated
4
not busyadjective
Not busy; marked by a low level of activity or trade.
Business was quiet all through the winter months.
The restaurant has a quiet period between lunch and dinner.
Similarslow, dull, idle, inactive, dormant
Oppositebusy, bustling, brisk, hectic
5
not showyadjective
Not showy or flashy; restrained and undemonstrative.
The room was decorated in quiet tones of cream and gray.
His quiet elegance never demanded anyone's attention.
Similarmodest, plain, simple, undemonstrative, austere
Oppositeshowy, flashy, loud, garish
6
peacenoununcountable
Freedom from disturbance or trouble; a state of peace and security.
The treaty brought a welcome quiet to the troubled region.
Families on the street have enjoyed years of quiet since the gang was driven out.
Similarpeace, calm, tranquility, stability, order
Oppositeturmoil, unrest, disorder, strife
Note
Security is the heart of this noun, and the phrase in quiet shows it. In The Life and Death of Jack Straw, a play first printed in 1593–94, Jack Straw scoffs that the King and his nobles think they "may sleep in quiet," safe from trouble rather than from noise. That safety separates it from mere stillness: this is the quiet a treaty or a retreat provides, not the one a silent room has.
7
silencenoununcountable
The absence of noise, movement, or activity; a state of silence and stillness.
He treasured the quiet of the library's reading room.
A sudden quiet fell over the crowd as the speaker stepped forward.
UsageSay a sudden quiet for a spell of it, and a bit of quiet or peace and quiet in general.
Similarsilence, stillness, calm, hush, peace
Oppositenoise, din, commotion, bustle
8
make silentverbtransitive
To make someone or something quiet, calm, or less active, or to become quiet and calm.
The conductor raised his hand to quiet the orchestra.
Her reassuring words quieted the anxious passengers.
UsageYou quiet a crowd or a child (quieted); quieten and quiet down mean the same.
Similarcalm, silence, hush, soothe, settle
Oppositeagitate, excite, rouse
Note
What it calms need not be noisy at all. Saint Augustine, in an English version of 1631, writes of a heart that "cannot be quieted" until it rests in God.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The English version cited is William Watts’s translation of Augustine’s Confessions, published in 1631. bridwell.omeka.net
Augustine’s heart is described as one that “cannot be quieted” until it finds rest in God. en.wiktionary.org
9
stop talkinginterjection
Used as a command telling others to stop talking or to make less noise.
Quiet! I'm trying to concentrate.
Quiet at the back, please. The lecture is about to begin.
UsageQuiet, please sounds politer; Be quiet! is the common full form.
Similarsilence
10
secretadjective
Kept private, or done discreetly so that others do not learn of it.
The couple kept their engagement quiet for months.
The company made a quiet payment to settle the complaint before it reached court.
Similarsecret, private, discreet, confidential
Oppositepublic, open
Note
Secrecy in this sense mostly comes through one construction: keep something quiet, keep it quiet until the deal is announced. Before a noun it suggests discretion more than concealment, as in a quiet word with someone, a private talk that often carries a gentle warning. The phrase on the quiet means secretly, and it can hint that something is not quite proper.

Less common meaning

11
automatic (software)adjective
Requiring little or no interaction from a user or operator.
The installer runs in quiet mode, completing the setup without prompts.
Administrators prefer a quiet deployment that demands no manual input.
Similarsilent, unattended
Oppositeinteractive
Note
Here the silence is in the conversation, not the sound. A quiet install runs to the end without stopping to ask the user anything. Its near-synonyms are silent and unattended, which overlap without matching. Quiet and silent installs usually also hide their windows; unattended says only that no one needs to be at the keyboard, so an unattended install may still show its progress.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of quiet apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Latin quiēscere ("to keep quiet, rest"), which goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "rest," had the past participle quiētus. That gave Old French quiet (adjective) and quiete (noun), which Middle English borrowed as quiete. Coy, quit, quite and quietus are doublets.