quiet

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".

• enPR: kwī'ĭt, IPA^(key): /ˈkwaɪ.ɪt/
• (weak vowel merger) enPR: kwī'ət, IPA^(key): /ˈkwaɪ.ət/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪət
• Hyphenation: qui‧et

quiet (comparative quieter or more quiet, superlative quietest or most quiet)

1. With little or no sound; free of disturbing noise.

   Synonyms: hushed, muffled; see also Thesaurus:quiet

   Antonyms: loud; see also Thesaurus:noisy

   I can't hear the music; it is too quiet.

   • 1982, Donald Appleyard, Livable Streets, page 98:

     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.

   • 1999 April 5, William Safire, “Essay; The Quiet Noisemaker”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Before long, the unsuspecting salesman was earnestly pitching him "the quietest noisemaker on the market."

2. Having little motion or activity; calm.

   Synonyms: placid, serene; see also Thesaurus:calm

   the sea was quiet

   a quiet night at home

   all quiet on the Western front

3. Not busy, of low quantity.

   Synonyms: slow, unbusy; see also Thesaurus:inactive

   The traffic was quiet for a Monday morning.

   Business was quiet for the season.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     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.

4. Not talking much or not talking loudly; reserved.

   Synonyms: reticent; see also Thesaurus:taciturn

   Antonyms: garrulous, prolix; see also Thesaurus:talkative

   He's a very quiet man usually, but is very chatty after a few beers.

5. Not showy; undemonstrative.

   Synonyms: modest, plain, simple; see also Thesaurus:aloof, Thesaurus:unadorned

   a quiet dress

   quiet colours

   a quiet movement

6. (software) Requiring little or no interaction.

   Synonyms: silent, unattended

   a quiet install

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:quiet.

quiet (third-person singular simple present quiets, present participle quieting, simple past and past participle quieted)

1. (transitive) To cause (someone or something) to become quiet.

   Synonyms: quiet down, quieten

   Can you quiet your child? He’s making lots of noise.

   The umpire quieted the crowd so the game could continue in peace.

   • 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 2:

     For thou haſt created us for thy ſelfe, and our heart cannot be quieted till it may fine repoſe in thee.

2. (intransitive) To become quiet or calm.

   Synonyms: quiet down, quieten

   When you quiet, we can start talking.

quiet (plural quiets)

1. The absence of sound; quietness.

   There was a strange quiet in the normally very lively plaza.

   We need a bit of quiet before we can start the show.

2. The absence of movement; stillness, tranquility.
3. The absence of disturbance or trouble; peace, security.
   • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act III:

     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: […]

quiet

1. Be quiet.

   Quiet! The children are sleeping.

• “quiet”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “quiet”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “quiet”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “quiet”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• quite

Borrowed from Latin quiētus. Compare Old Catalan quet, which was inherited. First attested in 1490.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [kiˈet]

quiet (feminine quieta, masculine plural quiets, feminine plural quietes)

1. calm, stopped
2. quiet

• aturat
• detingut

• quedar

quiet

1. water

• Willem F. H. Adelaar, The Languages of the Andes

Inherited from Old French quiete (13th c.), borrowed from Latin quiētus. The masculine quiet is a Middle French backformation. Doublet of inherited coi and the earlier borrowing quitte.

• IPA^(key): /kjɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

quiet (feminine quiète, masculine plural quiets, feminine plural quiètes)

1. (rare, literary) tranquil, peaceful, placid

   Synonyms: see calme

   • 1921, Marcel Proust, Le Côté de Guermantes, section II:

     Alors en regardant, en écoutant Mme de Guermantes, je voyais, prisonnier dans la perpétuelle et quiète après-midi de ses yeux, un ciel d'Ile-de-France ou de Champagne se tendre […] .

     So when I watched and listened to Mme de Guermantes, I saw, a prisoner in the perpetual and placid afternoon of her eyes, an Ile-de-France or Champagne sky stretching out…

• Its antonym inquiet is much more common.

• quiétude

• “quiet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Latin quiētus.

• IPA^(key): [ˈkjet]

quiet m (feminine singular quieta, masculine plural quiets, feminine plural quietas)

1. calm, stopped
2. quiet

• suau
• tranquil