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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quiet (down)
Verb
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Elsewhere, this could only be a scene of sensory overload, but its eye-of-the-storm geography made the Bowl a kind of redoubt, cool and dark and almost hushed under the purple sky.—
Michael Owen,
The Atlantic,
5 Feb. 2025 -
That hushed any skeptic who assumed his power was declining, as his home run total had decreased from 36 to 29 to 24 in previous seasons.—
Zack Meisel,
The Athletic,
22 Jan. 2025
Verb
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If the lake were to completely dry up there would be a horror to behold.—
Dennis Hinkamp,
The Denver Post,
5 Feb. 2025
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The outreach doesn’t need to pattern itself after past cringe but must start carrying itself like its surrounding ecosystems could dry up with baffling speed and cruelty.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
3 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Although regulations may usher in more urgency for sustainable action, the laws rolling out around transparent claims could lead to companies clamming up about their initiatives to avoid potential greenwashing penalties.—
Sarah Jones,
Sourcing Journal,
3 Sep. 2019
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While Lydia wallows in the residual pain, Paul has clammed up.—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
12 Dec. 2024
Verb
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In contrast to contemporaries like Ben Jonson—who told his audiences, basically, Sit down, shut up, and enjoy the glory of my words—Shakespeare repeatedly went out of his way to ask audiences to be active participants in the creation of his plays.—
Jeffrey R. Wilson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
30 Jan. 2025
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Those rewards are less about shutting up and playing the hits than understanding that the relationship to the audience is slightly different.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The freshwater was coming from a sewage-treatment pipe down below.—
Ben McGrath,
The New Yorker,
6 Jan. 2025
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The Vidalia fans will need to pipe down once and for all.—
Liza B. Zimmerman,
Forbes,
29 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Quiet (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quiet%20%28down%29. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.
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